iGrow Up
by Enula
Summary: What if Carly's bad boy didn't collect Pee-Wee Babies and they continued dating? A bad boy like Griffin might want to go faster than Carly's ready for. Then what will she do? I have to say that this will eventually be a Creddie.
1. iTook the Next Step

**iGrow Up**

"So this is your room, huh?" Carly asked, looking around her bad boy's bedroom with that spark in her eyes. "I'm impressed."

"Yeah, well…what can I say? Can't let you be impressed with me but not my room," Griffin grinned as he slid off his leather jacket and threw it absently into one of the corners. He crossed his arms over his chest as he stared at Carly.

Her smile grew with the more discoveries she made. She went through all his hanging hubcaps, each one seeming just a little different. She ran her hand over his cool grey bed sheets as she walked to the other side of the room, just then catching the hole in the wall. After hearing his explanation, she could only shake her head and laugh gently.

"So…" he began, pushing himself away from the wall he had been leaning against. He walked slowly toward her, "do you want to continue where we left off before class this morning?"

Though she should definitely be used to his advances by now, Carly still felt her face get warm every time Griffin came close to her.

She shrugged casually, always having a hard time not making light of the situation, "Sure, why not!"

Griffin smirked as he wrapped his arms around her waist, making her melt instantly into his embrace and slip her hands onto his shoulders before their lips met for the fourth time that day.

Carly couldn't really explain it…she always thought she would prefer a relationship that was based on conversation and really getting to know the guy she was dating, but for some reason…this was all she wanted to do with Griffin. Maybe it was because the few times she tried to have a normal conversation with him, he always gave her that smirk he just gave her three seconds ago and her brain completely shut down. Maybe this was what it was really like to be in love. She was attracted to him physically and wanted nothing more but to be in his arms.

She gasped in shock, however, when she quickly felt his lips leave hers and trap onto her neck. Her eyes widened when he pulled her just a little closer, their bodies being more united than they had ever been.

"Whoa, Griffin…" her voice wandered off, not quite sure what exactly she wanted to say.

"Yeah….?" his voice was muffled into her neck.

Carly felt him begin to use his teeth to lightly nibble what she found to be a _very _sensitive area. She wanted to do too many things at once. She wanted to close her eyes and enjoy what he was doing to her. She wanted to tell him stop because…she was enjoying what he was doing to her. But instead, she simply focused on one of his many rims and studied it with an out of focus mind…as she enjoyed what he was doing to her.

"Carly…" he whispered harshly into her ear, causing her to shiver involuntarily. The skin on her arms became tight and her face got hotter than she ever remembered it becoming.

She quickly backed away from him, her hands fumbling together in front of her in that nervous habit she had.

"What are you doing?" he asked her, his arms still held open as though he expected her to come back into them within the second.

"I…I…" she stuttered, still trying to get her bearings straight but trying to act cool at the same time. As she tried to come up with some excuse of why she stopped him, her eyes fell on the same rim she had been absently studying while he was kissing her. "Hey, ya know…" she quickly dodged him as she walked around him, going to the hubcap and pointing to it like she was at an art museum, "I like this one. Where'd you get it?"

He stared at her like she lost her mind, taking slow steps toward her once again, "I stole it off a Porsche a little while ago."

"A Porsche?!" Carly exclaimed, for a moment actually forgetting why she felt the need to begin talking about it, "When did you see a Porsche around this area?"

"When you had that one kid from America Sings on your show…I guess that was the ride he was chauffeured in."

"Oh yeah…" Carly smiled at the memories, though most of them were annoying, of that stuck up boy who hated America.

Not realizing that she had taken her eyes off him, when she turned around again she was surprised to see him standing right in front of her. Before she could object, his arms were around her again with his lips pressed to hers in a rougher fashion than she was used to.

Carly didn't push him away. She didn't hold him like she usually did when they made out, but…she didn't deny him. She felt her back hit the wall behind her, subconscious of the slight rocking of the rim when her elbow brushed against it.

"Griffin! Carly!"

Hearing her name, she quickly pushed her boyfriend away and stood like a deer caught in headlights toward his bedroom door that they never closed. To her surprise, no one was standing there. However, two seconds later, Griffin's mother walked into the room, flashing a big smile and carrying an even bigger bowl of pudding. She held up a spoon that was dripping with the dessert.

"Are you two sure you don't want any pudding? I think this is the best I've ever made!"

Griffin rolled his eyes, "No, Mom…we don't want any pudding! Can't you see we're busy?"

His mother looked back and forth between the two, making Carly's blush get brighter and brighter. Without saying anything more, only losing her smile slightly, Griffin's mother walked out of the room with her bowl of pudding.

Sighing with annoyance, Griffin turned back to her, "Anyway…"

"Hey, you know…" Carly began again, swiping past him to get to her bag that she threw on his bed, "I should probably get going for now…Sam and Freddie will be over my house soon to start rehearsing for tonight's show."

"Okay…hey, want me to give you a ride?"

She gave a short laugh, "A ride on what?"

He smirked again, making her almost wish she didn't say she had to leave, "I saw that my neighbor got a new bike a few days ago. I learned how to hotwire it and…borrow it for a little while."

It was wrong. It was so, so wrong. But Carly was hardly surprised at herself when her heart beat faster and her voice agreed with his suggestion.

**********

Carly walked into her brother's apartment ten minutes later, not finding it unusual to see that Sam was already there and that her and Spencer were flinging sushi onto the ceiling.

"What are you guys doing?" she asked nonchalantly, going around them to get some lemonade from the refrigerator.

"We saw this on TV…" Sam replied, still chucking pieces that stuck to the ceiling.

"Yeah and we thought we'd try it to see how many we can get up there before they start falling," Spencer added, taking about ten pieces of sushi at a time and throwing his hands upward.

Carly watched them for a few minutes before one piece suddenly fell back to the ground. Sam and Spencer stared at it in shock before another piece fell…then another. Carly jumped when they both screamed bloody murder.

"We're losing!" Spenser screamed, bending down to pick up the fallen pieces only to throw them back up.

"We still have three more containers of sushi to get up there!" Sam began helping Spenser, but it began to seem like a lost cause. For every piece they threw up, three more pieces fell.

Carly finished her lemonade and walked around the counter toward them. Covering her head from the falling sushi, she grabbed Sam's arm at the same time to take her away from her project.

"H-hey, what are you doing?!" Sam yelled as she was dragged away, "There's still so much more sushiiiiiii….!"

Spenser watched his partner get dragged up the stairs by his sister, "Don't leave me now! We were so close!" He screamed again when about thirty pieces of sushi decided to fall on his head at that time.

About time Sam and Carly got up to their studio, Sam had basically forgotten about her experiment downstairs, save for the couple pieces she still had in her hands that she quickly ate.

"That's so gross," Carly commented, not liking the taste of sushi at all.

"Eh. You have to admit it's not the worst thing I've ever eaten."

"True," Carly laughed, flopping down in her beanbag and staring up at Sam with a big smile.

Sam only had to stare at her for a second before she gave that knowing grin. She pointed her finger at her best friend in a "shameful for doing such awesome things with your bad boy!" fashion.

"You got a new story for me?" Sam asked, flopping down on the floor right beside Carly.

Carly's smile grew and her eyes rolled up to the ceiling to fake her innocence, "Of course."

"All right, so spit it out! I need some advice for when I find my bad boy!" Sam demanded, suddenly picturing a hot boy dressed in a leather jacket and tight jeans. He was in the kitchen, holding a large chicken wing that he "coolly" dipped into a pickle jar before he bit into it like he ate stuff like that everyday. Sam grinned, "Yeah…you eat that chicken and pickle juice, you bad, bad boy…"

Carly simply raised an eyebrow, but dismissed Sam's fantasy once Sam turned back to her and it looked like she was ready to listen to Carly's story.

"Well…I think Griffin and I went a little further than usual when we were at his house…" Carly started.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, her eyes widening with interest.

"I mean…" Carly began fumbling her hands together again. She gave a sudden huge grin, "He kissed me in other places besides my lips…"

Sam jumped to her feet too quickly for Carly to follow, "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, WAIT!"

Carly tilted her head to the side, her eyes moving from one side of the room to the other, "Okay…I'm waiting…"

"All right, lemmie get this straight," Sam held out her hands as though she was trying to solve a math problem, "Did he kiss you above the lips?"

"Umm…no…"

"So I take it you mean he kissed you below the lips then?"

"Yeah…"

"Was it lower then the chin?"

"Yeah…"

"Was it lower than the shoulders?"

Carly shot her head back, surprised Sam skipped a big, obvious area, "No…"

Sam clicked her fingers and gave a smile full of pride, "I knew it…you guys were necking."

"Sam!" Carly stood up quickly, Sam's words scaring her that Spenser heard what she said, "No! I mean…kinda!" Carly sighed in frustration, "Yes, he kissed me on the neck, but I didn't do it back, so it's not technically considered…" she looked over Sam's shoulder at the door before lowering her voice, "necking."

Sam crossed her arms arrogantly, "Uh-huh…so is that _all _that happened?"

"Yes! I--."

Carly was caught off when Freddie walked into the room, giving a loud, upbeat greeting to his fellow stars.

Carly clenched onto Sam's arm hard, keeping Sam's full attention for another second. She lowered her voice even more, barely above a whisper, "Don't say anything to anyone…not Spenser, not Freddie…anyone. Got it?"

"Okay, okay…geez, you would think you were embarrassed about neck-umph!" Sam grunted when Carly jumped on top of her to keep her from saying that word aloud with Freddie in the room.

They both looked up at Freddie looking down at them with a blank stare. Carly half giggled as she stood up, "So…how about this show tonight?"


	2. iAm Just Looking Out

**iGrow Up**

**II**

It was just after the show and Carly and Freddie were busy cleaning up. Sam smelled the food Spencer was cooking downstairs and had to go investigate. The show got a little messy with confetti and grape jelly everywhere. Carly was sweeping it up while Freddie was packing up the camera.

"You staying for dinner tonight?" Carly asked.

Freddie gave a "duh!" look, "Of course! Spencer said he was making his specialty tonight."

Carly smiled when she thought about the spaghetti tacos, "Oh yeah, he did mention he wanted to make that tonight. I'm so hungry I could probably eat five of those things."

"Why you so hungry?" Freddie asked, smirking a bit with sarcasm, "School lunch didn't quite cut it for you?"

Carly momentarily stopped sweeping and held the broom close to her, her eyes becoming slightly dazed as she entered into a daydream, "Ah…I wasn't even at school during lunch…"

It didn't take a genius to figure out what exactly she had been doing during lunch…or rather…_who_ she was with during lunch. Freddie knew he didn't want to hear anymore but didn't have the heart to stop her once she began talking.

"I never realized how _awesome_ it was to get fresh air in the middle of a school day. You feel so much more _alive_ after a little break," Carly started, emphasizing the words that described how she felt.

Freddie crossed his arms over his chest, "Well that wasn't very gentleman like if he took you from school during lunch but didn't get you anything to eat."

"Oh, I wasn't worried about food," Carly quickly came back, ignoring the rolling of Freddie's eyes, "Besides…I'm not dating a gentleman."

With that, she finished sweeping up and skipped out of the studio to go grab some dinner before Sam ate it all. Freddie stayed, staring absently at the pile of confetti and jelly she left in a pile in the middle of the floor.

He didn't get it…he just didn't get it. What was it with girls and not liking nice boys? Is that why Carly never seemed to notice him…because he would basically worship her if she gave him the chance? Did he have to start being mean…telling her off and being rough with her? He continued to stare at the mess before finally uncrossing his arms and putting his hands on his hips, making him feel more secure with himself suddenly, "Carly thinks that I'm just gonna sweep you right up into a dustpan and throw you away," he spoke to the pile of garbage, "But I'm not. No…I'm just going to leave you there for _her_ to worry about later."

Doing a quick one-eighty, he went walking out of the studio and down into the kitchen with an overly dramatized smug look. Carly, Sam, and Spencer didn't even give him a single glance as they ate their spaghetti tacos.

Freddie walked over to the counter. He saw that Carly was sitting right where he would have to stand to get his plate, so instead of saying his normal "excuse me" to her, he roughly nudged her off her stool to get her out of his way to begin getting his dinner.

Carly stood up with her hands in the air, looking down at her shirt with spaghetti stains on it, "Freddie! What's the big idea?!"

He made his taco then turned back to her, taking a large bite and chewing with his mouth open, "Oh, by the way…that pile of mess is still where you left it."

Carly gave a look of disgust, "What are you talking about?"

Freddie shrugged, "If you forgot so soon, I don't have time to deal with people of your IQ." He took another large bite.

The whole room stopped their eating momentarily to watch the scene that played out in front of them. Sam was the one to break the silence.

"Ooohhh…I see what this is about," she smirked and wiped her hands over her plate, "Freddie, just drop the act now. You're not fooling anyone."

Freddie wanted to argue and continue his act. But looking at Carly, seeing that he might have actually offended her, quickly threw away his defenses and softened his eyes.

"I know…I know…"

Carly sighed and looked disappointed, setting down her taco, "Freddie…I hope you don't think that's how Griffin treats me. He may be a bad boy, but he doesn't disrespect me. What you did is just…taking things out of proportion."

Freddie felt even lower now. He didn't know why he started acting like that or why he thought it would even work. Of course he knew that Griffin didn't treat her like that. Carly would have more brains then to stay with a guy that bad. It was the wild, random things he did that Carly was attracted to.

Not a nerdy computer geek that went by the rule of electronics everyday of his life…

"Sorry, Carly. I don't know why I just did that," he apologized.

Carly only stared hard at him for a second more before she broke into her normal bright smile and nudged his shoulder with hers, "It's okay. It's nice to see you're just looking out for me."

Sam chuckled, "Yee-yeah…let's just assume that's why he acted retarded."

Freddie gave Sam a fake death glare and took a couple spaghetti strands from his taco and tossed it at her. They landed on her face, but she simply stripped them off and angled her head to slurp them right up.

Carly shook her head and took her seat again. It was only then that her cell phone rang. She quickly jumped up again to take it from her front pocket. Her smile said it all. She looked up at everyone, "Excuse me for a minute." She walked away from the counter, only answering the phone when she got to the couch.

Spencer looked suddenly sad, "I want to have a private conversation…"

"I'm sure you do it every night with yourself," Sam commented nonchalantly.

"Hey!" Spencer pointed a finger at her, first looking offended, but then looking suspicious, "How do you know about that?!"

Sam widened her eyes and gave a classic horror film look, "I know _everything_ you do…"

Spencer exchanged a look with Freddie before getting out of his chair quickly and running toward his bedroom, "You don't know anything about my snow globe!"

Freddie watched Spencer disappear before turning his gaze to Carly on the phone, looking all happy and…flirty. He sighed and turned back around to face Sam.

Looking like she understood how he felt for once, Sam set down her second taco, "Don't look so depressed all the time, dorkwad. Look how happy Carly is. At least be happy _for _her."

He wanted to comment on how much sense she made for once, but instead just looked down, "I know what you mean." And he did. And even though he knew he should feel that way, his heart just wouldn't let him accept it. Carly never had a steady boyfriend before Griffin, and with her heart, who knows how long their relationship would last. Maybe Griffin actually would be her first husband he would have to get rid of with no evidence left behind.

It wasn't long before Carly hopped back over to them, "Hey, I'm gonna go meet Griffin at the Groovy Smoothie. I know Spencer won't allow me to go out with him this late, so will you guys act like we're all going together and then like…go home instead?"

Sam and Freddie stared at her before Sam commented in a low voice, "But what if I actually want a smoothie right now?"

"When don't you want a smoothie?" Carly asked.

Sam didn't have to think about it long, "Touché"

"So you're saying you want us to start lying for you?" Freddie asked very cautiously, not wanting to upset her but wanting her to see that she might begin falling into bad habits.

Carly groaned with frustration, "C'mon guys! I would do it for you! I already told him I would meet him there in ten minutes."

They gave no answer, but it was then that Spencer walked back into the living room, "The evidence is gone!"

Carly walked over to him without asking for an explanation of what he meant, "Hey Spencer, me, Sam, and Freddie are going down to the Groovy Smoothie. Is that okay?"

Spencer looked at her before reverting his gaze to Sam and Freddie, not even noticing that they looked away from him quickly, "Yeah, ya know, I think I'd like some too! Mind if I go?"

"_Yes_!" Carly screamed suddenly, making the other three jump. "I-I mean…we're just gonna grab them and go. So if you want, we'll just pick you up one."

Looking at her a bit strangely, he slowly agreed on being brought back a smoothie.

"All right, let's get going guys." Carly said, walking to the door backward, waiting impatiently for Freddie and Sam to follow.

When they seemed very reluctant to move, Spencer laughed, "I know the spaghetti tacos are out of this world, but they'll still be here when you get back. I do solemnly promise that I won't eat them all."

They still didn't budge. Carly began to look worried, "Guys…c'mon. _C'mon!"_

Finally, they both slowly made their way over to Carly, not even saying a goodbye to Spencer as they walked out of the apartment.

"Thanks," Carly said once the door was securely shut, "I'll see you tomorrow."

She started walking down the hallway.

Freddie yelled after her before she got too far, "Hey, are you sure you don't want us to at least walk you to make sure you get there okay?"

Carly giggled and yelled over her shoulder, "Too much looking out can be a bad thing, Freddie." And then she was gone.

Sighing, he turned back to Sam who was standing against his door, looking almost as bummed as he did.

"I can't believe Carly just lied to her brother like that…" Freddie commented.

"I can't believe Carly forced me to leave before I was done eating spaghetti tacos…" was Sam's response.

Freddie rolled his eyes. Of course that was all Sam was worried about. He figured if anything that he would text Carly in about thirty minutes to make sure she was all right. After all, he was just looking out for her…


	3. iAm in Denial

**iGrow Up**

**III**

"I can't believe I totally forgot it," Carly commented, laughing as her and Griffin walk into his bedroom after having met up at the Groovy Smoothie. She was talking about the big spaghetti stain that was left on her shirt after Freddie pushed her out of her chair. She got so excited to meet him that she didn't even think about changing.

"Yeah, it definitely stands out," Griffin said, taking off his jacket and throwing it over a chair. "If you want, I can give you one of my shirts to wear as we throw yours in the washer."

Carly smiled at how thoughtful he sounded, "Thanks, Griffin, but I don't think I should stay here that long to wait for it to wash and then dry."

He shrugged, "Just leave it here then and walk home in my shirt. Unless you want to walk home smelling like spaghetti the whole way."

She shrugged, "I don't really have a problem with that…but okay, I'll change since it seems to mean so much to you," she said sarcastically.

"Are you kidding?" He went to one of his dressers and took out the shirt that was on top, which was a dark blue muscle shirt. "I'd love to see you wear my shirt." He tossed it to her, smirking as she stared down at it.

"Don't have anything else?" Carly joked, not really expecting an answer or another shirt, "Where's your bathroom so I can go change?"

"You can just change in here," he replied rather quickly, "I'll turn around if you don't want me to look."

Carly bit her bottom lip and looked down at the shirt again. She never got changed in the same room with a guy and, though she really couldn't find much wrong with doing it, became nervous at the thought. But he said he wouldn't look, so…what was the big deal?

"All right," she finally agreed, watching Griffin give her a flirtatious smile and turn swiftly around to stare at the other side of the room while she was left to change shirts.

Breathing deeply, Carly turned around also so her back was toward Griffin. Her fingers wrapped around the bottom edge of her shirt, slowly lifting it to reveal her flat stomach. For some reason, she felt the need to look over her shoulder to make sure he still wasn't looking before she lifted it over her head. Sure enough, he was still looking away.

She smiled at her childishness, "No peeking." She made her voice a little more high pitched, teasing him but also letting him know that she was about to make the change now.

"Not looking," he mocked her in the same tone of voice.

Quickly, with the most speed she ever used to undress herself, she tore her spaghetti stained shirt over her head and reached for his shirt with fumbling hands. She moaned lowly when the shirt slipped from her grip and she had to bend down to pick it up. His shirt got turned around and in her distress, had a hard time finding the opening to pull it over her head.

Finally, after only about five seconds but what felt like two minutes to her, she was able to get her arms through the sleeves and stick her head through. As she was getting ready to pull it down to cover herself, she looked over her shoulder again and caught Griffin looking over his shoulder also, a slick smile covering his lips.

"Griffin!" In one swift motion, she pulled the shirt down, not being exposed any longer, "I told you no peeking!"

He laughed at her brightened cheeks and walked over to her, "Relax, Carly. You're wearing a bra, so what's the big deal?"

Carly's face heated up even more, "That's besides the point!"

Reaching out for her, he wrapped his arms around her slim waist and pulled her close to him, "Yeah…the point is…you look really hot wearing my shirt."

She could only keep her stern look for a few seconds more. Before she knew it, she was breaking into a smile and looking down shyly, "Really? I never thought of myself as…hot before."

"Oh, you definitely are," he said lowly, lifting her chin up with his hand to make her look at him again. Without any more words, he leaned down to capture his lips with hers. In that instant, she relaxed into him and slipped her hands onto his shoulders.

Carly was perfectly happy standing where they were, but giggled with surprise when she felt her feet leaving the ground as Griffin picked her up wedding style and carried her over to his bed. He set her down on his mattress, his face lowering with her to once again make lip contact.

Her mind was going a million miles a minute while her stomach was doing flip after flop. His strong, muscular arms were on either side of her, his fists holding him up above her. She was still sitting up, but started to feel uncomfortable with her neck arched straight back in order to continue kissing him. In the position she was in, it was almost impossible to push him away and every time she leaned back, he followed her.

Before she knew it, she was lying flat on her back, Griffin still kissing her.

She tried to relax…really she did. After all, her and Griffin had been dating for about three weeks now…why not try kissing in a different position? But her mind wouldn't let her simply enjoy the moment and her heart felt like it was about to explode out of her chest.

Her phone began beeping, breaking the silence in the room. She became excited quite quickly and pushed him off her so she could stand up and go over to her purse.

"What's the deal?" Griffin asked, still laying on the bed, "Whoever it is could wait. Just tell them you were in the bathroom when you call them back."

Carly chose to ignore him and flipped her phone open to see it was Freddie calling. Though any other time, she would have been angry that Freddie was bothering her while she was in the middle of making out with Griffin, this time she couldn't have been happier. He called just in time.

She flipped her phone open and couldn't even hide the happiness in her voice, "Hello?"

"Hey Carly, are you about to come home? You've been gone awhile and I don't know how long Spencer wants to wait for his smoothie." Freddie sounded worried, like he knew that if she didn't make it back within the next ten minutes, she had a high chance of getting caught.

"Yeah, I guess it is getting pretty late," she looked at her watch, glancing from her side view Griffin still on the bed. She could see him staring at her, knowing that he didn't like her telling someone else she was leaving before telling him.

"Do you want me to meet you at the Groovy Smoothie to walk you the rest of the way home?" Freddie offered, crossing his fingers in hopes of a positive answer.

"Um…" she finally turned her head to look at Griffin. Then…she couldn't describe it. Though she was feeling so anxious to leave only two minutes ago, seeing how good he looked…as he seemed to be waiting her return to his arms…no! She had to leave!

"Carly?" Freddie got worried when she didn't answer.

"Yeah! I mean…no, you don't have to do that. Griffin will take care of that. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?" Not even waiting for a response, she clicked her phone closed and walked over to the bed, "Freddie's right. I should probably get going now."

He grinned and stretched out on his bed, "But you just got here."

Her eyes watched him in amazement, like he was some Greek God that blessed her with his presence, "I know, but…c'mon, walk me home!" she exclaimed, not wanting to come up with another explanation since he already knew the reason she had to go. She leaned down and gave him a quick kiss before walking away to get her purse.

Griffin sighed but stayed on the bed, "I think you're able to take care of yourself. I think I'm just gonna pass out now."

Carly stopped suddenly and looked at him, watching as he rolled onto his side and closed his eyes. She blinked a couple time, not sure how to respond to his refusal to walk her home. "Oh…okay. You gonna pick me up tomorrow morning for a ride to school?"

"Yeah," was his simple response.

She didn't know why, but his lack of goodbye words hurt her and she felt tears spring to her eyes. Before she began making a scene and told him how she felt, she grabbed all her stuff, including her shirt she was going to wash at his house, and walked briskly to the door. She looked back once to see if he was even watching her go, but it looked like he was already asleep.

Then she left. The night air was chilly and she quickly wrapped her arms around herself. She wished Griffin was there so he could wrap her up in his and share his body warmth. She began heading toward the Groovy Smoothie, dreading having to carry a cold drink the rest of the way home.

Though the streets were still busy with city life, Carly felt lonely and out of place. She didn't know why, this wasn't the first time she walked home by herself. Maybe it was just the thought of wanting to be with Griffin as she walked home. It could also be due to the fact that she turned down Freddie's offer, too. She thought about calling him back and asking him to meet her at the Groovy Smoothie because she knew he would do it. She didn't have to think twice about his loyalty…he was always there for her.

She sighed and flipped her phone open, staring at the home screen. She wanted to call Freddie…but suddenly felt embarrassed. If she called him now, then he would know that Griffin didn't walk her home. She didn't want Freddie to know anything like that. Instead, she found Sam's name and quickly pressed call.

The phone only rang once before she heard the familiar voice of her best friend on the other side.

"Hola, chica!" Sam greeted, making Carly smile faintly.

"Hey, are you in bed yet?" Carly asked.

Sam blew through her lips, making the sound that said that was the most ridiculous thing she's ever heard, "Me? At this time? Come on, Carls."

Carly laughed gently, "Do you mind meeting me at the Groovy Smoothie then?"

Sam was silent for a moment, "Everything okay?"

Carly hated how she was able to keep her composure through everything, and still would have been able to, had it not been for that one simple question. It was the question that always got her, because it forced her to admit to herself that everything wasn't okay.

"Yeah…" she said in such a small voice, that it was a dead give away that she was lying. Without asking for an explanation, Sam said she would be right there and hung up to go meet her.

Putting her phone away, Carly wiped away the few tears that escaped her eyes without her consent and entered the Groovy Smoothie to order a smoothie for Spencer and one for Sam, since she knew she would want one, also.


	4. iSkip

**iGrow Up**

**IV**

"Nice shirt." Those were the words Sam greeted Carly with as she accepted the smoothie Carly held out for her. Sam begin slurping up the drink as she followed Carly out of the Groovy Smoothie, allowing them to remain silent for the first few seconds.

"So…" Sam began, getting impatient for Carly to say something, "How'd the romantic rendezvous go?"

Carly shrugged, wanting so badly to tell her how she felt but also wanting to keep it light, "Okay…he was nice enough to offer me his shirt so I wouldn't have to wear the one Freddie spilled spaghetti on."

"Ooo," Sam grinned and gently elbowed her in the side, "Better make sure you don't break your bad boy too fast. It won't be any fun then," she took a large slurp.

Smiling at Sam's reasoning, Carly looked to the sky to see the very few stars that were out that particular night. Carly didn't really think about it that way. Griffin _was_ her bad boy…so why should she expect him to do nice things all the time? Not wanting to walk her home was no big deal really. She guessed she preferred him telling her the truth instead of actually doing it but not wanting to. He still lived by his rules and took pride in that. Who was she to begin breaking all that down so soon?

She turned to her best friend, not being able to help herself when she suddenly embraced Sam tightly. Sam accepted the hug, laughing a little when Carly let go and they continued on their walk, "What was that for?"

"For being my best friend and by solving everything without even realizing it!" Carly exclaimed, grinning ear to ear. She was so glad she decided to call Sam.

Sam thought about this for a quick moment before smirking in agreement, "Well, I _am _a genius. It just comes natural."

Carly laughed, "Right." Before she could say anything more, she heard the beeping from her phone coming from her purse and began digging around for it. She grasped it and flipped it open, seeing that it was Spencer calling. Now she was _really _glad she called Sam. She would be able to back up her story of going out with her and Freddie.

She answered it, "Hey, Spencer. What's up?"

"Uh, you've been gone quite awhile for just going to pick up some smoothies. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, we're on our way back right now. Sam decided she wanted two smoothies so we waited for her to finish the first one before ordering her second to go," she looked over to Sam, hoping she didn't mind that she was telling her brother this. It didn't seem like she did.

"Oh, okay. You got my banana blitz?"

"You know it!" She grinned, so happy that Spencer bought into her story and that he trusted her.

She hung up the phone. Her and Sam fell back into a comfortable silence.

"Ya know, before I called you, Freddie called me and offered to walk me home," Carly said, not quite sure why she decided to bring this up.

"Pssssch," Sam gave her that look that she always gave when she was about to talk bad about Freddie, "It's a good thing you turned him down. If a raging hobo came up to you, he wouldn't be able to fight him off! I mean…I guess he could distract the hobo by talking of their ticks and how many there would be if they added both their ticks together…"

Carly laughed, imagining Freddie saying "I don't have ticks!" had he been there to defend himself. She looked down at the ground and kicked a few pebbles, swishing the smoothie in her hand around. She took a small sip of Spencer's drink, just to get a sweet taste in her mouth.

"I don't think he would have been able to cheer me up in the same way that you did," Carly continued, thinking thoughtfully, "I'm not sure if his way would have worked at all actually…"

Sam glanced at Carly, wondering where she was going with this, "You never even told me the reason you needed cheering up in the first place. You and Griffin get into a fight?"

"No…no, it was nothing like that. I guess it's a couple little things. I'm beginning to question how far he wants to go…and how fast." Carly blushed, glad it was dark so Sam wouldn't notice her slight embarrassment.

"Why, did you guess actually…_neck _this time?" Sam asked, putting it in quotations when she remembered that Carly didn't consider what she did earlier as such.

Carly shook her head, "No…" she stopped. Again, she found herself questioning herself. What made her think they were going any faster than usual? They were still simply just making out with each other like the day they first started "dating".

She shook her head, "I think I'm just tired and need to sleep off some stress. I'm overanalyzing everything."

"Ah, one of those things," Sam nodded, "Gotcha."

They reached the apartment building, but before Carly grabbed the door to enter into the lobby, Sam grabbed her hand to stop her.

"Sam?"

"Carly, look…" Sam switched her weight from one foot to the other, making it obvious that she was about to say something serious. She always looked uncomfortable when she was put into those positions, "I know you really like Griffin…and he seems to like you a lot, too. But I just wanted to let you know that if he ever…ya know…does anything…you can always talk to me about it, okay? You know I won't ever judge you."

Carly stared at her in shock. Besides not being able to believe that Sam would ever say something so…responsible sounding, she was at a loss of words at how well her emotions must have been showing to Sam. They were both usually sensitive to each others feelings, but…Carly thought she was doing a particularly good job with this situation.

"Okay, Sam," Carly said just above a whisper, "Thanks for saying it."

Sam grinned as they finally entered the building, "Just make sure to order a lot of fried chicken before you start pouring your heart out. I'm more focused when I'm eating fried chicken."

Carly and Sam separated ways once Sam got to her place and Carly continued on down the hall to hers. She opened the door, smiling when she saw Spencer on the couch, eagerly awaiting the smoothie she very gladly handed over.

Spencer took a very long drink before releasing a satisfied sigh, "Well worth the long wait."

Carly gigged and headed toward the stairs, "Enjoy! I'm beat so I'm gonna get ready for bed now. Night."

"Night," Spencer responded, flopping back down on the couch and flipping the TV on to find something amusing to watch as finished his drink. He paused suddenly, "Was Carly wearing that shirt earlier…?" It didn't take him long to shrug it off and ask her about it tomorrow if her remembered.

As soon as Carly entered her room, she heard her phone beeping again, in a slightly different tone, telling her she had a text message. She rummaged through her purse to find it again, flipping it open to see that it was from Freddie.

It simply asked "u home?"

Not knowing why, a huge smile spread across her lips and she flung herself on her bed, never being more happy to be laying in her own bed. She text messaged back "yes" and sent it.

She waited for about three minutes before she realized that Freddie wasn't going to send anything more. She felt slightly disappointed by this. But she guessed that that was all he wanted to know and might have assumed she was actually in bed already. She sighed and set her phone on her dresser, getting up to begin getting ready for bed.

*****

The next morning, Carly stood outside her apartment building looking distressed. She kept glancing at her watch, becoming more and more anxious as the seconds ticked by. The school bus had left a good twenty minutes ago and she assumed that Griffin would be coming by soon after.

Finally, after realizing that she would be late for school if he took a couple more minutes to get there, she dialed his number, groaning loudly when he didn't answer.

She looked up and down the street to see if she might be able to see him coming. No such luck. She didn't know quite what to do, so she began jogging in the direction of his house. His house was closer than the school…she just hoped that he actually still was there or else she would have wasted even more time.

It took her about ten minutes to reach his house, her fist pounding on his front door continuously.

"Griffin! Griffin, are you home?!" she yelled, trying to look into his living room window to see if either him or his mother was around.

"Griffin!" She beat on the door a couple more times before she was surprised when the door finally opened…and there stood Griffin, still in the clothes he was wearing the night before, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Carly? What are you doing here so early?" he asked groggily, squinting at the bright sun.

"Early?!" Carly screamed in bewilderment, "It's almost eight o'clock! We're going to be late for school!"

He yawned, not bothering to cover his mouth, "So?"

"So?! _SO?!" _She could feel herself beginning to freak out. She didn't understand how he was taking this so lightly when it seemed to be ruining her life for the moment, "I have to get to school!"

"No you don't," he stated simply, stepping to the side to allow her in, "Let's just stay home today. My mom'll be gone all day today, so let's just…" he yawned again, "Let's just crawl back into bed for a few hours and then watch a couple movies or something."

Carly's eyes widened, "You mean…skip school?"

He laughed and walked away from the door like he knew she would follow him inside. Sure enough, she did and closed the door behind her, "You act like you never skipped school before."

"I…" she was going to defend herself, but decided against it. Was it weird that she was in ninth grade and had never skipped school before? She knew a lot of people that did it and the teachers never really seemed to care. She quickly skimmed her classes. No…she didn't have any tests today. She had a history assignment that was due, but it wasn't anything major.

Carly watched Griffin walk down the hall to his bedroom, no doubt going to pass out again. Her phone rang. Worriedly, she flipped it open to see it was Sam calling her.

She answered, "Sam?"

"Carly! Where are you? Homeroom's about to start in five minutes!"

Carly bit her bottom lip and again looked down the hall where Griffin disappeared, "Um…I don't think I'll be coming to school today."


	5. iHide My Shame

**iGrow Up**

**V**

"I can't believe Carly skipped school!' Freddie exclaimed to Sam once they met up in the hall before lunch.

"Relax, Fred-dud," she said in a flat voice, sounding like she didn't have the patience to deal with his outbursts at the moments, "It's just one day."

"Yeah, but Carly never did anything like this before. It might seem like nothing now, but before you know it, she'll be skipping every week, then her grades will start going down, and then she won't want to do iCarly anymore…!" Freddie was definitely stressing.

Sam gave him a look that said he was retarded, "Oh, come on! You're being overly dramatic!" She paused, throwing a few books in her locker before turning back to him, "You don't really think she would do that…do you?"

Freddie shrugged, "We never thought she would skip school before today."

Slamming her locker shut, she couldn't believe that Freddie got her thinking the same thing. He did have a point…ever since Carly began getting really serious with Griffin, they've been seeing less and less of her. She still was around in time to do the show, but Sam was beginning to question if Carly might not show up one day because Griffin told her not to.

She quickly shook the thought from her head. She glared at Freddie and shoved him, his back hitting the lockers hard.

"What was that for?!" He yelled, rubbing his shoulder.

"For making me even begin to doubt Carly!" Sam yelled back angrily, getting up in his face, "I can't believe you would even think that about Carly! Has she ever doubted _you_?! Has she ever let _you _down!?" She couldn't believe that Freddie really got her this upset. Actually, it wasn't even Freddie that she was mad at. It was herself for thinking the same thing.

Freddie looked like her understood, despite all the abuse she was throwing at him, "I'm sorry, Sam…I guess I'm just really worried about her."

This calmed her down a bit, her arms crossing over her chest, "Yeah, I know…me too."

Over at Griffin's house, they were, of course, making out hard core. Ever since he woke up from his all morning nap, he had been all over her.

"It's so hot to wake up and find you laying beside me," he had commented before locking lips with her. His mouth traveled too. He gave her small kisses all over her face before dropping down to her chin and then her neck, being rougher than he had been the first time he did it.

Carly, sadly, couldn't get her mind off the fact that she was not where she was supposed to be. She was still aware that she was with a hot guy and he was making her feel really good, but…there were a few things that bothered her that she couldn't look past.

One, he had bad morning breath. She thought about how she left him the previous night and didn't think he brushed his teeth before falling asleep. And then not doing it since he woke up…yeah, definitely not the most pleasant thing.

Two, it was daylight out and, doing the things they were doing while the sun shone happily in as if to spy on them, made her uncomfortable. Of course, they were both fully clothed so it wasn't like she needed the dark to hide anything, but laying in bed with him was a new feeling.

Three, he _did _keep trying to lift her shirt up. Every time he tried, she smacked his hand away, but did it in a teasing manner. Griffin probably thought she was just playing with him.

Finally, she got tired of trying to steer his hands away and pushed herself away from him gently, "Let's talk." She suggested.

"Talk?" he asked in astonishment, his eyes clouded over with the passion he had been releasing on her, "Why?"

Carly looked away from him, knowing that she might not be able to control herself if she continued to look into his eyes, "Well…'cause talking's nice sometimes."

He thought about it, then shrugged, "What do you want to talk about?"

She smiled, glad that he was actually giving it a try, "Like…about us. How do you feel about it?"

Griffin snickered, glancing at her to make sure she was serious. When he saw that she was, he tried to keep his face straight, "Well, uh…I feel…good. You make me feel good. And that's good…right?"

She laughed gently, "You sure do have a way with words."

"Hope that satisfied your talking thing," he mumbled before rolling on top of her to begin attacking her neck again. She gasped loudly when she felt him bite this time. It felt awesome, but she tried to keep a straight mind when thinking of the mark it was going to leave.

"Griffin…stop," she begged when he continued to scar up her neck and his hand began traveling down her side to find the hem of her shirt. His weight made it impossible for her to stop him and she was starting to find it hard to think.

She jumped when she felt his hand touch her bare skin, now frightened more than annoyed, "Griffin, I'm serious!…stop!" She placed her hands firmly on his shoulders and used all her strength to push him up.

He panted heavily when she managed to throw him to the side. She stood up from the bed quickly, readjusting her shirt.

"What's the problem?" he asked, a small bead of sweat running down the side of his face.

Carly looked at him, wondering what exactly was making him sweat like that. They hadn't even done anything strenuous, but it looked like he was struggling to keep his composure and settle himself down.

"The problem is you're going too fast," she said bluntly. She narrowed her eyes when he threw his legs over the edge of the bed and faced away from her. He covered his face with his hands, not responding to her.

"…Griffin…?" she said his name quietly, gently. She slowly walked around the bed, wondering if she actually hurt his feelings. When she was standing beside him, and he still didn't move, she sat down beside him. She leaned over to see if she could get a look at his face, but it was still hidden.

She placed an unsure hand on his shoulder, jumping when he suddenly stood up and walked toward the door.

"Griffin!" She stood up also, her hands out to the side as the oddness of the whole situation. What exactly was going on?

"I'm gonna take a shower," was the only thing he said before exiting the room. She jumped again when she heard the bathroom door slam shut. She stood in one spot for a few minutes after she heard water spraying, still trying to get her bearings straight.

She turned her head to the side and noticed his closets mirror. She turned around to look at herself. She grabbed a fistful of her hair and slowly moved it over to one side to reveal the side of her neck that he had been, for lack of better terms, munching down on. She winced when she saw that it was absolutely horrible looking. It looked like she got punched twenty times in the same spot. She had to remember to be careful of how she wore her hair for awhile, especially around Spencer.

Dropping her hair, she continued to look at the rest of her body. It looked the same…but she felt that it looked different. It seemed…foreign to her. She wondered if this was how an out of body experience felt.

Griffin seemed really upset when she told him to stop. But his quick pace put a fear in her that she never felt before. She thought she would always feel comfortable with him, since she enjoyed their simple kissing before. But now she wasn't even sure how she would react the next time he touched her. She sighed and sat back down on the bed, looking over at her book bag on the chair.

"I should've went to school," she thought aloud, wondering what Sam and Freddie were up to. She looked at her watch and saw that it was almost noon. Her stomach growled upon this realization and she made her way into the kitchen to make something for lunch.

*****

Carly left Griffin's house when she thought it would be perfect timing to make it back to her apartment when the school bus dropped everyone else off. The rest of her afternoon with Griffin was a little awkward to say the least. He didn't seem to appreciate the lunch she made him, though he ate it up like he hadn't eaten in a week. He didn't make any eye contact with her and sat on a different couch when he popped in a movie. She was glad when she was finally able to leave.

Her timing was, in fact, perfect. As soon as she made it to the main entrance, the bus pulled up to begin dropping people off. She stopped and waited for Freddie and Sam to make their appearance, never being happier to see them when they began walking over to her.

"How's the rebel girl doin'?" Sam asked jokingly, equally as happy to see her.

Carly forced a smile, "Not bad. How was school?"

"It was awesome!" Freddie jumped in with feigned excitement, "I never realized how cool school was! You should never skip another day or you might miss another action packed day of school stuff!"

Sam rolled her eyes but Carly laughed, "Yeah, wouldn't want to miss that."

It was at that moment that the wind picked up slightly and blew her hair behind her shoulders. And there, on her neck, sat her hickeys that stood out more than Lewburt's wart. As soon as Sam's and Freddie's eyes widened, Carly knew what she had accidentally exposed. She gasped and grabbed her hair to keep it in place over her neck.

"Daaang, Carls. That thing's huge!" Sam commented, stepping closer to her as she wanted to see it again.

Carly groaned in frustration and ran inside the building so she would be safe from the wind. Her friends followed close behind, wondering what her plan of action was going to be.

She turned back to them, "What am I going to do!?" She felt like crying again. Partly because she was so embarrassed that she had it, but mostly because she obviously put herself in the position to get the hickey and now she seemed unable to deal with the consequences.

Sam thought about it for a moment, "Okay, look…my mom usually doesn't teach me a whole lot, but when I was about seven, she taught me how to get rid of hickeys."

Carly gave a strange look, "That's an odd age for such a conversation. How'd that come up?"

Shrugging, Sam made it seem like it was something that was natural, "She came home one night with tons of them and I caught her in the bathroom trying to get rid of them."

Not bothering to ask any more questions, they all ran to the elevator to take themselves up to the iCarly studio. From there, they ran into Carly's bedroom, taking every precaution to avoid Spencer.

"All right," Sam began, walking over to where she knew Carly kept her makeup bag and began digging around in it. She found Carly's mascara and handed it over to her, "You gotta dig this into your skin…hard. Just keep twisting it and…I guess it helps the blood vessels or something. Either way, it worked for my mom."

Carly still looked a little unsure as she took it, but hoped that Sam's method would work. It was only at this moment that Carly realized that Freddie had been silent ever since his school comment. He was sitting on her bed, looking down to avoid the girls.

"Something wrong, Freddie?" she asked, beginning to dig her mascara cap deep into her neck, wincing at the pain.

Freddie sighed and looked up, having a hard time even looking at Carly and what she was doing to herself. He never…ever…pictured Carly…his Carly…in the position she was in now. His Carly was sweet and had a good head on her shoulders…not a girl that was lowered to digging an inanimate object into her neck to hide her shame.

Without saying a word, he got up and left. Carly watched him go before turning back to Sam quickly, "Is he okay?"

Sam shrugged, "Who knows. He's probably just upset that he wasn't the one to give you that hickey." She got up close on Carly again, studying her mark. She smirked, "It is quite impressive, I must say."

Carly tried to smile as she continued to dig. She couldn't wait to call Freddie later and ask what his deal was.


	6. iOpen Up

iGrow up

VI

**It was later that night and Carly was still in her room. Sam had just left, promising Carly that she would go down and tell Spencer that his little sister wasn't feeling too good and that was why she was keeping herself in her room.**

**She looked in the mirror, happy with the outcome of Sam's mascara tube method. Her neck still looked a bit bruised, but it was by no means as noticeable as it had been. She grabbed her phone and flipped it open. She considered sending Freddie a text, but wasn't sure how she could type what she wanted to say. She thought about calling, but would much rather talk to him in person.**

**As she came out of her room and walked down the stairs, she peeked around every corner to make sure she saw Spencer before he saw her. Once she reached the bottom stairs, she looked toward the kitchen, seeing him on his phone.**

"**Me? Why, I'm wearing…wait, what would you like me to be wearing?" **

**Carly tiptoed her way through the living room, glad Spencer's back was toward her.**

"**My tux? Then…yes, I'm wearing my tux. And let me tell you, I am looking **_**quite **_**spiffy."**

**Carly quietly opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, closing the door gently behind her. Finally letting out a breath of relief, she walked across the hall and knocked on Freddie's door.**

**It didn't take him long to come to the door, not hiding his shock to see Carly there, "Carly? What are you doing here?"**

"**What, I'm not allowed to stop by to talk to a friend?" she answered with a hint of sarcasm, making sure to keep the smile on her face.**

**Freddie shook his head and looked over his shoulder to make sure his mother wasn't standing right behind him. He stepped out into the hallway with her and closed his door behind him, "I woulda thought you'd be over at your boyfriends house at this time."**

**This simple statement seemed to annoy Carly slightly and she switched her weight to her left foot, "He's not the only person in my life, ya know. I'm free to talk to other people."**

"**For now…" Freddie mumbled, but Carly had heard it perfectly.**

"**Freddie, what's gotten into you?" she asked with high accusation, feeling her heart fall into the pit of her stomach when Freddie gave her a sad look. She thought she could only feel like that when she saw a sad, homeless dog or cat.**

"**I told you yesterday, Carly. I'm just trying to look out for you, but…it's getting harder and harder to do," he crossed his arms over his chest, felt uncomfortable, then stuck his hands into his pockets.**

**She stared at him long and hard, trying to figure out what he meant by that, "I don't want you to feel like you have to continuously look out for me. I have Griffin now and he's perfectly capable of--"**

**Freddie cut her off, "He can't even walk you home at night!"**

**Carly gasped, "How'd you know about that?"**

"**Sam told me that she met up with you at the Groovy Smoothie last night. I guess I just assumed that you were alone," he tried not to point her out too bad of what she had said to him on the phone.**

**Carly made a mental reminder to yell at Sam later. She sighed, "Look, it's not like I lied to you on purpose last night. When I told you that Griffin would walk me home, I just assumed that he would. But when I asked him, he didn't want to. No big deal."**

**Freddie didn't respond right away. He wanted to yell at her…to tell her to open her eyes and see Griffin for what he really was. He wanted to tell her that she deserved so much better than that punk. But instead, he simply stepped forward and hugged her close to him.**

**She tensed at the sudden contact, "Freddie, what are you doing?"**

**He laid his head on her shoulder, his face facing away from her, "Sometimes I just feel like I'm losing you…"**

"**Losing me? Freddie…" she thought about telling him that he couldn't lose something he never had, but that sounded way too harsh for the moment. Not only that, but it didn't even sound like he meant it in any other way besides referring to her as a person and a friend, and nothing more. It was at this moment that she gave in and wrapped her arms around him also.**

**They were silent for a few moments before Freddie broke the silence, "I'm worried about you, Carls…"**

**She gave a breathy laugh and involuntarily clenched her fingers around his shirt, using that to keep her self control, "I can take care of myself."**

"**Yeah, I know, it's just…" He pulled away from her. Carly couldn't explain it, but she wanted to pull him back toward her. She felt so…safe and in place with her hands clenching onto him and her face hidden from him. **

**He didn't finish his sentence. He seemed to have all together forgotten about it. He glanced at her neck, still seeing the light bruises that were left behind. He reached up with gentle hands, placing her hair over her shoulder to cover her neck. Her smoothed it out a few times before taking his hands back.**

**With that simple gesture, Carly found her heart begin to flutter uncontrollably. She couldn't figure out what was wrong with her, but she suddenly wanted to spill everything out to Freddie.**

"**It sucks…" she began, that alone making her choke up and millions of tears cloud her vision. She gave a short laugh at how pathetic she felt, "I knew what to expect when I started dating him, but…"**

**She looked at Freddie, her heart getting stuck in her throat when she saw how much he cared. Of course, she always knew he cared, but seeing that look in his eyes was tearing her apart, limb for limb.**

"**But I just think that he was expecting something totally different from me…" and that seemed like the finalizing sentence that made the tears begin flowing. She covered her face with her hands, shaking at the thought of looking like this in front of Freddie.**

**She felt him wrap an arm around her and gently begin pulling her in a certain direction. She didn't bother to uncover her face, she trusted him on wherever he was leading her. They didn't go far, just to the other end of the hallway so they wouldn't be standing in front of their doors. As soon as she felt her back press against a wall, she slid down to the floor. He followed suit, resting his arms over his bent knees. They were sitting close enough to still be touching, but he figured that she just needed to let it out this way before he tried getting anything else out of her. He wanted her to know that he was there, and though she didn't tell him, he knew that that was all she wanted.**

**He closed his eyes, his heart breaking a million times over for her. He wanted so bad to have the power to just snap his fingers and make all her problems disappear. Of course, nothing is ever that simple and he would just have to work with her slowly.**

**It took Carly about five minutes to finally calm down. Now she was scared to look up and reveal her tear streaked face. Alas, she was getting tired of avoiding the inevitable and finally lifted her head, glad to see that Freddie continued facing forward.**

"**Sorry about that…" she sniffed and wiped at her eyes.**

"**No need to apologize. Sounded like you've been holding that in for a little while," he glided his eyes to the side to get a quick look at her.**

"**Yeah…" she agreed, finally giving up on trying to make her face look any better and copied Freddie's pose.**

**He finally pressed the back of his head to the wall and turned toward her, "Wanna talk about it?" **

"**No…" she said honestly, Griffin being the last thing she wanted to talk about, strangely enough. They were silent for a moment before Carly finally giggled, "Hey, remember that one time Sam entered that eating contest?"**

**Freddie didn't quite know what that had to do with anything, but also laughed at the memory, "Yeah, she woulda won but they disqualified her because she ate the other contestants food too."**

"**We thought she was in it for the free trip to Disneyland, but really all she wanted was all the free food." They both laughed again and that was how the night continued on for a good forty minutes. Reminiscing about all the fun times they had seemed to be the perfect remedy for Carly's sadness.**

**Finally, Carly sat forward, crossing her legs and playing with the seam on her jeans, "So are you still mad at me?"**

**He rocked forward a little, "I was never mad at you, Carly. Just…mad at myself."**

**She cocked her head to the side and looked at him, "Why were you mad at yourself?"**

**He opened his mouth but quickly shut it. He shook his head, "Nah…I don't wanna say."**

"**Come on!" She nudged him, finally realizing how close they were when their elbows remained touching after she did it.**

"**You'll just make fun of me."**

**She gave a small roll of the eyes but smiled, "Freddie, I'm not Sam. You know I wouldn't do that."**

**He glanced at her, the half smile he gave her making her stomach rise and fall, "Well…" he began, "I was mad at myself because…I wasn't man enough to do what I had to do and now…all this is happening."**

**Carly looked over to him and met his gaze, her mouth falling open only slightly. **_**Man enough…**_**as bad as it sounded, Carly had never thought of Freddie in that manner. He was always just her best friend that was a boy that lived across the hall and the tech geek that was the functioning organs of iCarly.**

**But then she started to think about it…and Freddie was actually very mature for his age. He was smart, he cared about school because he knew it would help his future, he was always worried about her safety, and was like her for the most part of always wanting to do the right thing. She was shocked when she found herself asking **_**'Does Freddie have any actual flaws!?'**_

**She suddenly realized that she had been staring at him for awhile and looked away.**

"**Carly, what do you think--"**

**He stopped when he heard her phone beeping. She took her phone from her pocket and flipped it open to see it was a text from Griffin. Freddie couldn't help but look over her shoulder to see that it read **_**"meet me outside". **_**His insides twisted as he wished over and over that she wouldn't go.**

**She snapped her phone closed and continued to stare down at her lap. They sat like this for about a minute, Freddie only moving to press his back and head against the wall again, waiting to see what Carly would do.**

**Carly very abruptly stood up, "He came all the way over here…I have to go out and see what he wants."**

**Freddie didn't budge, just looked up at her to see that she seemed nervous and torn between what she wanted to do. She began walking down the hallway, got halfway, then turned around and walked back to him. She held out her hand for him to take, "Need help getting up?"**

**He stared at her hand, looked up at her face, flashed a small smile, and slipped his hand into hers. He pushed himself up, standing in front of Carly with their hands still interlocked.**

**She gave him that helpless sort of smile, "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"**

**He nodded, "You gonna take the bus this time?"**

**She laughed, "Yeah, I think I will."**

**Carly began backing away, their arms extending in order to hold each others hands for as long as they could. When Carly got too far away, their fingers slipped off of one another's, both their arms falling lifelessly to their sides.**

"**Goodnight," she offered before turning around and walking down the hall.**

"**Goodnight," he replied back, watching her until she turned the corner.**


	7. iPut My Foot Down

**iGrow Up**

**VII**

Carly stepped outside, subconsciously crossing her arms in response to the night air. She saw him leaning against a free newspaper stand and stopped for a brief moment to look him over. No doubt he looked really good in that pose, standing there as though the world was his own. His head was slightly bent down, but she could feel his eyes burning into her. Slowly, putting one foot in front of the other, she walked the steps it took to reach him.

She didn't even try to force a smile, "Hey."

"Hey," he replied, pushing himself off the stand. He had a toothpick hanging out the side of his mouth, but absently spit it out before he grabbed Carly's shoulders with his strong hands. He smirked, "How about we go back over to my place? My mom still won't be home for another four hours or so."

She looked at him like he was crazy, "Griffin, it's nine o'clock…on a school night."

He shrugged, "Do you have a bedtime or something?"

Becoming defensive, her lips formed into a small pout, her eyes shifting from his, "No…it just seems to be getting kinda late for me to walk all the way over to your house and then back to mine again."

"Then just spend the night with me."

He stated it so matter of fact, Carly was having a hard time keeping up with him. How was it that everything she said, he already had an answer and a comeback to? It made her think she was being way too predictable.

She shook her head, beginning to turn away from him, "I don't think so, Griffin…not tonight."

He grabbed her elbow before she could walk away from him, "Whoa, Carly…what's all this about? Don't you still want to date me?"

She narrowed her eyes, "Why are you putting me on the spot like this?"

"How's that putting you on the spot? It's a simple question."

She sighed and dropped her shoulders, "Yes…I still want to date you. But I don't see how that has to deal with me just going back to my own room and sleeping there."

"Don't you think you should think about what _I _want?"

The question seemed so absurd to her that she couldn't help but laugh, even after seeing the seriousness in his face, "Are you kidding me? Should that even be a valid question?"

Griffin only let her think about it for a second more before shrugging again and turning around to leave, "So be it."

Seeing him just leave like that, not even answering her rhetorical questions, made her heart begin beating wildly with worry. _Wait! What's going on? What did I do!? Stop him before…!_

"Wait!" she heard her voice scream. She felt her pride being smashed into little pieces as he turned around, a small smile of victory planted on his lips. She thought about just running back inside and not looking back. She thought about how scared she felt with him earlier and how she wanted to overcome that fear. She thought about what Freddie said to her and how she was letting him down in this moment. And she also thought about how weird it made her feel that there was a high chance she could lose Griffin.

She walked toward him, "I'm coming…"

*****

"Carly, are you okay?" Spencer asked as he stood in front of her bedroom door, knocking gently. He hadn't been too worried about her even when Sam came waltzing through his house, telling him that Carly wasn't feeling well. What started his worry was when she didn't come down at all, even when he made chicken noodle soup. She usually came running when she smelled that.

There was no answer. He figured that she was maybe just asleep and began to walk away from the door. He only took a couple steps before stopping, his brotherly instincts somehow kicking in.

He went back to the door, knocking one more time, "Carly, I hope you're not naked in there." When there was still no answer, he turned her doorknob, almost surprised to find it wasn't locked. He pushed the door open and was greeted with an empty room.

"Weird…" he stated, not yet jumping to conclusions. He stepped inside and looked around for a quick moment. It didn't take him long to notice her purse laying on her bed. She wouldn't go anywhere without that…would she?

He swallowed roughly, _really _hoping that Carly didn't do anything stupid. He ran out of her bedroom, down the stairs, and out the front door. Without closing his, he began knocking urgently on Freddie's door. It was almost ten at night, and he knew he was probably waking up the Benson household.

Spencer heard Mrs. Benson's voice on the other side of the door, "Goodness gracious, what's with all the noise!?" He heard her begin unlocking the door and flung it open. Any other time, Spencer would have taken the time to be slightly disturbed by the appearance of her "sleeping" form, what with the green stuff all over her face and curly things all in her hair, but he could only give her one odd look before making his purpose known.

"Mrs. Benson, is Freddie still up?"

"He better not be! I made sure he had on his Superman pajamas with some warm socks and tucked him in and--"

"Is Carly…by any chance…over here?" Spencer cut her off, not wanting to hear Freddie's bedtime routine.

"Um, no! Why would she be--"

"Mom, what's going on?" Freddie asked as he came up beside her, surprised to see Spencer standing there.

Spencer held up his hands to not only keep them calm, but himself as well, "All right, I'm sorry I woke you up. It's just that Carly's not in her room, but maybe she's with Sam and I--"

"Carly's not home yet?!" Freddie blurted out, only slightly worried that he may have just snitched on her.

"What do you mean '_yet_'?" Spencer questioned.

Freddie looked up at his mom, "Can you excuse us, please?" He stepped around her, shutting the door behind him before she could get out a sound of protest, "Spencer…she talked to me about an hour ago before she got a text from Griffin to have her come outside and meet him."

"What?! And you didn't stop her?! Or come get me!? Or Sam?! She would be the best one to kick his butt!"

Freddie was really shocked that Spencer dropped the whole act that made him, him. He was really worried, and seeing Spencer worried, made Freddie equally as such. His whole body felt like it was on fire and he began fumbling his words.

"We-well…she seemed to…I thought that…it was just a meeting! Carly was s-supposed to come right back and then…" Freddie stopped himself, mentally punching himself for letting her go so casually. "What are we gonna do?"

"All right…" Spencer ran his hand through his hair and paced back and forth, "Let me just call her first…" He got out his phone and dialed her number, cursing under his breath when it rang four times but then went to her voicemail.

"Now what?" Freddie asked, getting nervous watching Spencer pace.

"I'm going to get Sam. Like I said, she'll kick that Griffin kid's butt if she needs to. Me and her are going over to his house to see if she's there." He began walking down the hall.

"Wait! What do you want me to do?" Freddie asked, looking almost helpless.

"Just…stay here in case she comes back!" Spencer yelled over his shoulder.

Nodding like Spencer was still standing right there, Freddie ran back in his house, ignoring his mom, and quickly changed into his normal clothes and grabbed his phone before running back out and over to Carly's apartment. Once there, he decided to try to give Carly a call, even though Spencer just tried two minutes prior. Still no luck.

*****

Carly was walking home using her new "shortcut" method, which basically involved walking through a couple dark alley ways and cutting through people's yards. She kept grabbing chunks of her hair with both her hands, groaning loudly in frustration over the events that had played out.

Griffin was once again going too fast with her, actually being bold enough to unbutton her jeans this time. Though she had almost no prior experience with boys, she was by no means that naïve to not realize what that would indefinitely lead to.

When she pushed him off this time to begin yelling at him, he began mocking her and calling her a stupid child. She didn't like fighting and wanted to just leave before it got any worse. However, as she was turning around, he reached out to grab her but only managed to grasp onto the sleeve of her shirt. Because of the position and the speed they both had, he ended up ripping the shirt, the tear revealing her shoulder.

"Now look what you did," he said, letting her go once he saw that she would really begin flipping out if he tried to make her stay any longer.

"What…_I…?!" _she didn't even bother trying to question him. She left in a hurry, too heated to even realize that she missed two phone calls in that moment.

Carly reached her apartment building quickly and ran her way up the stairs to where her and Freddie lived. She wanted to just run into her apartment, but with the way she _felt _she looked, paused before doing so. She took out her phone and began typing a text before she even realized she had missed calls.

'_i need you'_

It was the only thing she typed before sending it to Freddie. It only took him a couple seconds to write back, _'where r u'_

'_outside'_

Carly had been facing Freddie's apartment but turned around with surprise when her door flew open instead. Freddie's eyes widened as he looked her over. Her eyes were red, her hair was a complete mess, and her right sleeve was torn.

_What the hell…did that jackass…do to my girl…!?_

"Carly?! What happened!?" he stepped out and wrapped his hands around her arms.

She shook her head, "Freddie, this isn't as bad as it looks…it's a--"

"Stop making excuses for him, Carly!" He yelled, urgently yet gently pushing her inside her apartment. His force made her sit on the couch, her eyes following his every movement. She was fine…really she was…up until this moment. Freddie was being so…

She began crying again, not even hiding her face this time.

Freddie sat down beside her as he dialed Spencer's number.

"Spencer? Yeah…yeah she's home. She's right here. No…just come back. Now." Freddie hung up the phone and went right to focusing all his attention on Carly.


	8. iGot Rough and Wild

**iGrow Up**

**VIII**

"Carly, what…" Freddie couldn't even bring himself to finish his sentence. He reached over and grabbed her ripped sleeve, pulling it up in a useless attempt to make it look better.

Shaking her head, Carly wiped away her tears. She breathed in and out a few times, making sure she had herself under control before speaking, "Like I said…it was a total misunderstanding."

He raised an eyebrow, "What you and Spencer have are misunderstandings. What me and my mom have are misunderstandings. This…this looks like more than a misunderstanding."

Carly rolled her eyes and stood up, walking away from the couch, "Freddie, forget what it looks like! You're not listening to me!" She spun around to face him again, her hair flying about her to make her look even more crazed.

Freddie held up his hands in defense, "I am listening, Carly. So…tell me what happened." It took everything in him to not yell…to not force everything out of her…to not wrap her in his arms and make her forget everything bad in her life. They were connecting so well just an hour ago…what happened?

She crossed her arms and stared hard at him, "I don't see how that's any of your business!"

"Carly!" His eyes widened, "You just text messaged me saying that you needed me!" She blushed, but it went completely unnoticed to him, "If what happened isn't any of my business, then what did you want from me?!"

She had to admit that Freddie had her there…but it was just on impulse that she sent him that text. Wait…was it bad that he was the only person that came to mind in her moment of uncertainty? She tried to find an excuse off the top of her head…but suddenly sagged her shoulders. She knew she was being difficult, she just didn't know why.

"Freddie…" she began. Again, she felt the need to tell him everything. But, again, she felt the words were caught in her throat.

His eyes softened. He couldn't continue hounding Carly like this when she seemed so confused. He slowly walked toward her, "Listen…I know you really like this guy…and I guess you're right when it's really none of my business…but for the past couple of days…you've been miserable." He stopped in front of her, glad Carly was looking at him but not interrupting, "And it just doesn't seem right…that the guy you're dating…wouldn't put your happiness above everything else."

So, this was the moment, she thought. The moment that Freddie just had to be all sweet and…rational. She couldn't even take her eyes away from him. She wished that they were still in that moment they had earlier out in the hall and that she never left to go meet Griffin.

Apparently, her thoughts were showing because Freddie found the courage to take another step closer to her, "When we were talking earlier…you made me so happy because that was the most you ever opened up to me."

Her breath caught in her throat. No one had ever talked to her in that tone before…she never knew that (dare she say it) _love _had a sound.

"I just wish…that I could make you that happy because of something that simple."

"Freddie…" That was all she seemed able to say now. His name seemed suddenly foreign to her tongue…like she was saying it in a totally different light. Before, his name was just an everyday word…now, it was the thing that made him within her reach to erase everything else.

Carly watched as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was the look of trying to suck up the courage he needed. She was no fool and she knew what could happen next. But even knowing didn't budge her. She continued to stare even when Freddie opened his eyes again and began leaning toward her.

He was a mere inch away from her before he stopped. They looked into each others eyes, the closeness between them being so new and amazing that they found that they were both holding their breaths. However, at the last second, Freddie closed his eyes again and stepped out of her personal bubble.

She had her lips formed to ask the question "why?" but it was at that time that Spencer and Sam came bursting through the door.

"Carly!" Spencer yelled, jumping onto the couch just to jump off the other end in order to get in front of her. Accidentally, he pushed Freddie out of the way though he didn't seem to notice, "Are you okay!? Where were you!? I got so worried when you weren't there and then I went next door and then you are in such big trouble, missy!" His sentence was fast and seemed to run together in one word. Carly's head was spinning. Actually, she was still trying to catch her bearings from Freddie's…words…but Spencer was the one in front of her now.

"I know, I know…I'm sorry, Spencer. I didn't mean for all this to happen," Carly explained, absently pulling her sleeve up because it was irritating her elbow.

It was this action that made Spencer notice her shirt, "What's _this_?"

Sam came up beside him to see what he was talking about, "Whoa! Looks like things got rough and wild!"

Carly rolled her eyes at Sam's outburst, "It was an accident."

"Accidents happen accidentally!" Spencer yelled, making the other three look at each other oddly for the obvious statement, "I think this happened on purpose!"

Narrowing her eyes, Carly put her hands on her hips, "What is up with all of you and assuming what happened?!"

"Hey!" Sam jumped in, "I never said anything about that!"

Carly looked at her dryly, "Uh…_'rough and wild!'_?!"

Sam shot her head back, "You want me to say sweet and romantic…?"

"Yes! Say exactly that!" Carly yelled, hating herself for overreacting on them again. She just…didn't want to talk about it! "Spencer, look, just ground me, okay?! I snuck out of the house when I wasn't supposed to and went over to Griffin's house without asking. I'm _sorry _so just ground me for a couple weeks now!"

The room got quiet. Sam and Freddie slowly turned to Spencer, wondering what he was going to end up doing.

Spencer pursed his lips for a long moment before finally speaking slowly, "I'm not going to ground you, Carly."

Her eyes widened but she very quickly regained her composure, "Okay…"

"But I am going to forbid you to see Griffin again. Now…I know I said that before and it didn't really work. But…it seems more serious this time, so if I do catch you with him again…I'm gonna ground you for three months."

"Three months?!" Carly, Freddie, and Sam yelled at once.

"Whoa, going to the extremes there, huh?" Sam commented, her mouth still open in disbelief.

"But that's so unfair, Spencer!" Carly yelled, mentally hitting herself when she happened to get a glance at Freddie and saw how hurt he looked.

"Carly…why do you even want to see him again anyway?" Freddie asked, keeping himself from getting closer to her.

"Because like I've been telling you guys, it was a huge misunderstanding!" Carly couldn't believe this…why _was _she taking Griffin's side? Why did she feel the need to stand up for him when he wasn't even around to know it? Why did she still feel afraid to let him go as a boyfriend? What was it about him that made her feel like she needed him!?

When none of them said anything in response, she scrunched her face up and ran out of the living room in a hurry. She skipped every other step as she ran upstairs to her bedroom, slamming her door behind her before throwing herself on her bed. She hid her face in her pillow.

She hated how her mind felt so full that it was empty. She couldn't even think anything rational anymore.

There was a light knock on the door before she heard someone enter and close the door behind them. She knew without looking that it was Sam…she was the only one that had the right to walk into her bedroom unannounced.

"Why can't people just accept the fact that I know what I'm doing?" Carly asked, her voice mumbled within her pillow.

"No one ever said that you didn't…" Sam replied, Carly feeling the foot of her bed sinking when Sam sat down.

"Well they're treating me like it!"

Sam was silent for a few moments, "Remember when I was dating Jonah but broke up with him when I realized that he was kinda shady?"

"…Yeah…" came Carly's muffled reply.

"It was because I knew he wasn't good enough for me after that. I mean…I'm not _good _but I know where my standards are when it comes to having a good boyfriend," she paused to see if Carly would say anything. When she didn't, Sam continued, "And though I didn't really show it, it was hard letting him go. But sometimes…you gotta do what you gotta do."

Finally, Carly lifted her face from her pillow and turned herself on her side to look down at Sam, "You guys were inseparable. How did you just let him go like that?"

Sam shrugged, smirking a little, "Thought about all the other cuter boys out there in the world that I would now be available to."

Carly laughed lightly, "Yeah, but…" she began picking at the small loose strings on her quilt.

Sam rolled her eyes and smiled, "I know what you're gonna say…'there is no one else cuter than Griffin in this world'."

Carly smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. Yes, it did sound like something she would say…and yet she didn't feel like saying it. Griffin was still good looking, but the more time she spent with him, the more his image was becoming deformed in her mind. She guessed it was an example of matching the personality with the looks.

Sam bent her head to try to catch Carly's eyes, wondering why she wasn't agreeing with her, "Carls? I told you…you can talk to me about anything."

Sighing, Carly let her arm slip under her so she was lying her head on her pillow, "I think I may be fickle…"

"Fickle this, fickle that!" Sam waved her arm, ignoring Carly's confused look at her outburst, "For some reason, I don't think that's really it. You really liked Griffin…and I can tell you still kinda do…it's just the things he's doing that you don't like."

Carly finally laughed, "When did you get so smart, Sam?"

Sam smacked Carly's leg jokingly, "You taught me everything I know."

Carly laughed again. This was the second time Sam was able to cheer her up this easily. She played with those invisible strings a little longer before finally deciding that she would get her mind and facts straight…and tell her everything about her and Griffin and…and even Freddie.


	9. iVent

**iGrow Up**

**IX**

"Oooo, I wish I didn't turn back around when Freddie called Spencer telling him that you were home. I woulda showed Griffin what ripping of the _limbs _sounds like!" Sam exclaimed, her fists clenched in fury at how Griffin treated her best friend.

"I know!" Carly agreed, feeling Sam's spirit about wanting to be violent. She didn't realize just quite how upset she really was until she told Sam about Griffin trying to make her stay and possibly "go all the way".

Carly finally jumped off her bed, not wanting to wear her ruined shirt as a reminder anymore. She tossed the shirt over her head as she walked toward her dresser to get another one.

"Oh Carly!" Sam yelled with way too much sarcasm, "You're in the same room with me with your shirt off! That must mean we should get it goin' on!"

Any other time, Carly would blush at Sam's use of words, but this time, Carly was right along side her, "I'll show you what should be goin' on!" she yelled with the same sarcasm. She dug through her top drawer and pulled out Griffin's shirt that she wore home the night before. She gritted her teeth as she began trying to rip it in half. When she realized that ripping a strong shirt wasn't as easy as it first seemed, she grabbed a pair of scissors and started a cut at the top. From there, it was easy for her to rip it right in half.

She threw one of the pieces on the floor. Sam growled at it before flinging herself in the air with her fingers bent to mimic claws. She fell on the floor on top of the shirt, continuing where Carly left off by ripping it to shreds. Carly also went to town on her piece. Before either of them knew it, torn shirt covered Carly's bedroom floor.

Sam and Carly stared at each other before bursting into laughter.

"What came over us?!" Carly asked, looking around her room with delight in her eyes.

"_Us?! _I always act like that! But you…" Sam pointed a finger at her, smirking, "You, my dear, have been holding that in for awhile."

Carly's grin widened, "You're so right! I just wish I was able to do that to--"

"Hey, why's there so much yelling going on up here?" They both heard Freddie's voice outside the door before he began to slowly open it.

Carly's eyes widened as she took two wide leaps toward the door to slam it shut as hard and as fast as she could.

"Freddie! What did I tell you about just coming in without asking?!" Carly yelled, keeping her shoulder pressed against the door. She kept her arms crossed over her chest to cover herself, even though she knew he couldn't see her. Her face was bright red from the near incident.

"Sorry!" He apologized, rubbing his forehead where the door smacked him, "Just came up to make sure everything was okay."

"Everything's fine," Carly replied. She stopped for a moment before she smiled softly to herself, gently laying her head against the door as though it were a warm shoulder. Her voice got slightly lower when she continued: "I'll talk to you in a few minutes, Freddie. Let me just finish talking to Sam."

There was something in her voice that was so…reassuring and pleasant that he couldn't help but agree and leave calmly.

When Carly heard that he walked away, her smile stayed but her eyes wandered back over to Sam. She was surprised to see the blonde tapping her left foot continuously, one hand on her hip and the other shaking a disapproving finger back and forth. Despite all this, Sam couldn't hide her smirk.

"Tsk, tsk, Carly."

"What?" Carly asked, blushing even more when she predicted what Sam was going to say. She went back over to her dresser to find another shirt.

Sam sat herself on Carly's bed, "C'mon…you can't pretend what just happened didn't happen."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she kept her back to Sam. Carly was making more of a fuss about what she wanted to wear than was necessary.

"Carly!"

"Sam!"

"Oh no…don't you 'Sam!' me!"

"Well…don't you 'Carly!' me!"

Sam sighed, "Ya know…I've heard about pathetic rebounds…_but come on_!"

Carly finally just grabbed a random shirt as she spun around, her mouth open in stun at the accusation, "Rebound?!"

"It's the classic setup! Girl has hot but crazy boyfriend, but then they break up, and she ends up trying for the pathetic nerd boy because he's…" she couldn't even keep her whole face from wincing and looking like she wanted to puke as she sounded out the word, "_sen-si-tive_…"

Carly rolled her eyes as she pulled the shirt over her head, "There's a couple flaws in your theory. One, Griffin's not crazy…just a jerk. Two, I never said we broke up. Three, why must you think of Freddie as the pathetic nerd boy that's sensitive?"

"Ah ha! You admit it!" Sam pointed, now jumping up and down.

"I didn't admit anything! You gotta get your hearing checked, Sam," Carly went in front of her mirror and grabbed her brush, running the bristles through her messy hair to make it look more tame.

Sam came up behind her to look at her through the mirror, "Sooo…what are you gonna talk to Freddie about?"

"I don't know!" Carly yelled, brushing her hair harder now, "I'm just being nice 'cause it seemed like _he_ wanted to talk to _me_!"

"Of course he wanted to talk to you! The dork's been in love with you forever and he thinks this is his opportunity to sneak in when you and Griffin are fighting!"

Carly twirled around and held her brush out at Sam as though it were a knife, "Freddie wouldn't do that!" She thought about earlier when she left herself wide open for Freddie to kiss her, yet he didn't.

"Oh I think Freddie would do that!" Sam mocked, putting her hands in front of her in a karate move to defend herself against the brush.

Carly tightened her mouth to keep from screaming, trying hard not to grin when Sam seemed to be doing the same.

"Ahhh, you!" They both said at once, dropping their guard at the same time. Carly turned back to the mirror to finish brushing her hair as Sam walked toward the door.

"Well, since you seem all right, I'm gonna head home, all right?" Sam asked, opening the door and looking behind her.

"All right," Carly replied, smiling in the mirror at Sam.

Sam looked toward the ceiling as she slowly stepped out of the room. Before she closed the door, she stuck her head back in and yelled, "Yes he would do that!" before slamming the door.

Carly groaned and set her brush down hard. Sam always had to have the last word in! No matter. Carly knew Sam was wrong so that was all that mattered.

She leaned in close to her mirror, her hands tugging down on her cheeks to make her eyes droop. They were so bloodshot from her long day of tears that she had to back away with disgust. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to talk to Freddie tonight because of how she looked.

She turned around and looked down at her floor where her and Sam left the torn shirt pieces. It made her laugh again and it was because of that that she decided that she wouldn't wait to talk to Freddie. In fact, she was quite looking forward to it.

She exited her room just in time to hear the front door slam shut. That was the indication that Sam already left. Good…she didn't have to worry about going downstairs to find her harassing poor Freddie. Skipping down the stairs, she saw that Freddie and Spencer were in the kitchen, sipping on iced tea.

When they heard her, they turned around. Spencer sat down his drink and walked toward her, "Are you calm now? Can we talk rationally finally?"

Carly rolled her eyes, "Stop being so dramatic, Spence. I was never not calm."

Spencer paused for a moment, thinking about what just happened not twenty minutes ago, "Um…I'm not sure what your definition of 'calm' is anymore…"

Sighing, Carly walked around him to the kitchen to pour herself a drink also, "Look…I know I over reacted. It's been a long night for me and…" she glanced over to Freddie who had been taking a high interest in his drink ever since her and Spencer began talking. She finished pouring her drink and put the container back in the fridge, "Do you mind if we talk later, Spencer? I kinda wanna talk to Freddie for a minute…"

Freddie still didn't meet her eyes, but Spencer glanced from her to him, "Yeah…yeah, I guess. I'll just…go talk to my ostrich for awhile." He gave a slightly frightened look before turning on his heel and going to his bedroom.

The room got suddenly silent. Slowly, but not reluctantly, Carly propped herself up on the seat that sat across from Freddie, the countertop in between them. They each played with their drinks for a good minute before the conversation started.

"Are you mad?" she asked.

Freddie groaned at the question and slumped back in his chair. He gave her a tired look, "You asked me that out in the hallway an hour ago. Don't you remember my answer?"

She flinched a little at his tone, "You said you weren't mad at me…you were mad at yourself."

"Yeah, and that's still true…but this time, I'm also mad at you!" He raised his voice for a quick second, his eyebrows lowered. It only took him one second to look at Carly's sad eyes before dropping his harshness, "And at Griffin…"

Carly grabbed a straw and stuck it in her glass, swirling it around, "Ya know, I'm mad at Griffin, too. Ever since we started dating he had been taking things too fast. At first, I liked it because it was different than what I was used to and exciting because he seemed so in control of what he was doing. But I guess I responded too openly to his…affections and his assumptions about me jumped to the furthest conclusion. When I tried my best to set things straight and tell him to slow down, I guess he just found it too late to turn back.

"I never wanted him to think bad of me…and actually considered just going with the flow. I mean, I wouldn't be the first dumb teenager to fall for the romance. However, I got to thinking about it…and I realized there was no romance. Not really, anyway. Romance is when you share secrets with each other and know the person for who they really are. All I really know about him is that he likes bikes. And all he really knows about me is that I host a web show. That's not romance…I'm not even sure what to call it.

"Either way, I thought he would at least understand where my standards were. But I guess he liked me liking him as my bad boy and kept up what and who he was. I'm not saying it's a bad thing that he's been himself…but when I sit back and think about it…maybe I don't like him being himself. Maybe it's just the thought of him that I like. But with that sort of concept, it doesn't make any sense that I would keep going to him like I do.

"When I'm with him, I want to get away from him as fast as I can. But when I'm away from him, I want to give him another chance. I think 'maybe he was thinking about how much he likes me and how he wants to be a better person for me'. But in the end, I always fall into the same situation that we left off the time before. It's becoming monotonous already. But…what do I do about it?"

Freddie's head was spinning. Was it natural for kids their age to have problems like this? Or was this the age that these kind of problems started happening? He recalled having a slight girlfriend problem not so long ago. She just wanted him to make her own web show though. And he thought of Sam and Jonah and how that whole thing worked out. Their crew just didn't seem to have much luck when it came to relationships…

"Did you ever think about just dropping him?"

Carly looked at him like he was crazy, "Is that _all_ you have to say?!"

Freddie laid his hands out on the countertop, "What do you want me say?!"

"I dunno…some advice maybe! _Guy_ advice," Carly emphasized, hoping the whole guy thing would get him going.

"Thanks for the choice of words…" Freddie said with exasperation. She knew just how to say the right thing to make it impossible to walk away from the situation. He sighed, "Look, that _was_ my advice. Did you ever think about dropping him? Because…it seems to me that he's only dating you for one thing. And from what you're telling me, that's the one thing you don't want. So…what seems to be the problem?"

Carly sat back in her seat, "It's not that simple…"

"Yes, it is! Carly…why are you still with him if--"

"It's because…" she paused as quickly as she interrupted, wincing at what she was about to say, "Because he's a really good kisser…_really _good…"

Freddie rolled his eyes, "I'm sure there's plenty of good kissers in the world. And have you even kissed anyone else the way you kiss him?" It was really killing Freddie inside to talk like this…like it didn't even bother him that they were literally talking about Carly making out with another guy.

She looked disgusted, "No! What kind of girl do you think I am?!"

He shook his head, "The question wasn't meant to suggest anything like that. All I'm saying is that…if you didn't kiss anyone else…then that means you have no one to compare him to. How do you know he's this _awesome _kisser you talk about? He could be only mediocre…"

Carly laughed at his choice of words, "Mediocre? If he's only mediocre, and there's a possible chance of someone better out there then…" she stopped. She leaned forward as she spoke and Freddie had been watching her across the table with worn amusement. She wanted to finish her sentence…even though she knew what the last bit of her words might lead to. Even so…she couldn't help but be curious and tempted. She hid her knowing look with one of pure challenge, "Then prove it."


	10. iProve

**iGrow Up**

**X**

Freddie's first instinct was to laugh. She was joking, right? She wanted him to prove that there were better kissers in the world? Wait…how did she want him to do that?

"What are you talking about, Carly?" he asked, albeit nervously. He wanted to believe she meant what he thought she meant, but with the history he had with assuming things, he wasn't about to jump to conclusions now.

"You know what I'm talking about," Carly said, "If you find me a guy that kisses better than Griffin, I'll forget all about him."

He raised an eyebrow, "Is that all it's about…really?"

She blushed, "Well, I mean…it'll be a start."

Freddie sighed and slumped back in his chair. Would she actually allow him to…? He subconsciously looked over his shoulder, almost expecting to see Spencer sitting on the couch eating popcorn as he watched them. His eyes traveled back to her, smirking when he saw her smug grin.

He turned his seat to the side so he would be able to slide off. He looked down at the floor the whole time he walked around the counter to be on her side. When his eyes began to lift, he saw her hands shifting around each other, a nervous habit of hers. Freddie finally found the courage to lift his head to her, almost surprised that she was looking down at her hands.

If she was so "experienced" with kissing Griffin, he wondered, why was she being so shy right now? Either way, this was the moment he had been waiting for her to give him. He wasn't about to pass it up by asking unnecessary questions.

Taking one step closer, it allowed their knees to touch. Bringing a hand up, he gently put a finger under her chin to tilt her head up. Once their eyes met, he could see the anticipation written all over her face. She smiled, causing him to do so also. Then, without wasting another moment, he leaned in and pressed his lips lightly to hers.

It was a foreign feeling to him, having only kissed Sam for a quick moment before this. But that was just an experiment…a spur of the moment reaction to a question he wanted answered. After it was over, he hardly thought twice about it. There was something about this kiss with Carly, however, that left him knowing that he would be dreaming about it and reliving it for the rest of his life.

Carly began moving her lips against his. This gave him the courage to take another step closer to her, his hand that lifted her chin cupping her face as the other hand rested on her hip.

When Freddie deepened the kiss, Carly began to feel her stomach rising and falling with each second. Her eyes fluttered open and closed, her head spinning so much she wasn't sure if she wanted to watch or just keep dreaming. She finally took her hands out from between them and rested them on his shoulders.

It surprised both of them how long their kiss actually lasted. It didn't seem like either one of them wanted to end it, either. They both totally forgot about Spencer being in the other room and how he could walk in on them any second.

However, all kisses must come to an end some time, and they both pulled slightly away at the same time.

"Should I…" Freddie started in an out of breath voice, "keep proving…?"

"Mm…" was Carly's only response before they were both leaning in again to give each other their second kiss.

Finally, they separated again, their lips feeling swollen and wet from their mouth activity.

Freddie took a step back, trying to hide his nervous smirk, "So…"

"So…" Carly began, not even attempting to hide her huge smile that seemed impossible to leave her face.

Freddie saw this and laughed, sticking his hands in his jean pockets. He held his grin when Carly laughed also, slipping off her seat to stand in front of him.

"I think that was the best advice you ever gave me," Carly commented, trying really hard to act normal and not like a love struck girl that just got done kissing her best friend.

"Really?" Freddie seemed positively surprised at getting the compliment, "Well…you're welcome." He waited a couple seconds before speaking slowly, almost unsurely, "So, um…what does this mean?"

She was afraid he was going to ask that. Truth was…she didn't know. She was almost expecting Freddie to not even go through with the kiss, though the idea seemed absurd to her now. Why would her Freddie pass up that chance? She squeezed her eyes closed when she realized she was beginning to say _her _Freddie. And even though he did go through with it, she wasn't expecting him to be that…good.

"Carly?" he asked when she didn't answer him right away.

She sighed, "Freddie, this…this was not at all what I expected for tonight."

He looked at her with that sad look that could make him look so young, and she felt her own heart breaking for denying him what she knew he wanted to hear.

Carly placed a hand on his shoulder before realizing how impersonal that felt. She slipped it down to grab his hand, having had to pull it out of his pocket, "Freddie, don't think this didn't mean…everything to me. It did. It's just…I gotta get some things straightened out, you know? Just give me a day and…and I promise I'll be able to give you an answer to your question. For me. Okay?" She smiled sweetly, somewhat hating herself for pulling that card on him.

Seeing that smile and hearing that innocent _"for me?" _made him roll his eyes, but grin at the same time, "All right, all right, I understand."

She bounced once from excitement, "Great, I knew you would!" She leaned in, but paused when she wondered if it would be appropriate to kiss him again. He stared at her, waiting to see what she did. He smiled when she finally went through with it, though it was short.

"Well, it's late. I should probably let you get to talking to your brother now. Besides…I wouldn't put it past my mom to come barging in here any second now," Freddie and Carly laughed as they began walking to the front door.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning," Carly said as Freddie turned around before exiting her apartment.

He nodded, "You bet," he kissed her again before he could think about it. She allowed him, the goodnight lingering kiss being sweet and light.

When they parted, Carly flashed him another smile before slowly closing the door between them. Freddie stood outside in the hall for a good while, his mind replaying every second over and over again. Finally, he made a fist and threw it in the air, hissing out a long _"Yessss!" _before happily walking into his apartment.

Carly kept her back pressed against the door, her hand going up to her heart to feel it still beating wildly. Now that he was gone and silence filled the room, she could hear the blood rushing in her ears. Again, she had to reiterate to herself, she had _not _been expecting that at all.

It was at this moment that Spencer hopped back into the living room, staring at her oddly, "Um…get done running a marathon?"

"No! Why?!" Carly asked, blushing at his question. Did she really look that heated?

He shrugged, "Just looked like you were a bit out of breath, that's all."

"Heh…" she averted her gaze and walked to the couch, plopping herself down to try to calm her heart. She tried to force a smile when Spencer jumped over the back of the couch to sit next to her.

She really wanted him to say something, but he just continued to stare at her. Finally, she looked over at him, seeing that that was what he had been waiting for her to do.

"Do you mind telling me what tonight was all about now?" Spencer began, making sure to keep his voice caring and not strict.

Carly closed her eyes. She didn't know why it was so hard to talk to Spencer about this; usually she was able to just spit it out and then both of them would have a good laugh about it.

"I just…Griffin wanted to see me so I went over to see him."

"Without asking me?" Spencer asked gently, not wanting her to flip out on him again.

"I didn't think you'd care," she made sure to not look at him at all when she said it, giving away that what she said was a direct lie and she knew very well that he would care.

Spencer caught onto this, but decided not to press it. He rested his neck against the back of the couch, staring up at the ceiling, "Carly, I know you're getting older and you don't need me in your life as much, but…if you're having problems, you can still talk to me."

She laughed, having a hard time taking Spencer seriously because of what a goof ball he usually was, "Come on, Spence. You know I have Sam to talk to about all that kinda…stuff."

Spencer turned his head to the side, "Yeah, but do you think Sam has all the answers? She doesn't really have all that much life experience…"

"Yeah, but…" Carly tried to search for a reasonable response, "but she's a girl. She understands more, I guess." She raised her arms up in slight frustration, "Don't take it personally, Spencer! That's just how it is. I'm sorry that I snuck out tonight though. Do you forgive me?"

Spencer smiled and ruffled her hair, "Sure I do, Kiddo. You know I can't stay mad at you for long."

"Great!" she leaned over and hugged him, only giving him a quick second to try to hug her back before jumping up. "Anyway, I'm gonna go to bed now. Gotta get my rest for school tomorrow!" She thought about asking for forgiveness for skipping school also, but didn't want to confess it, and was too scared of how Spencer would take that. She figured she would just leave everything as it was and move on with their lives.

She went running upstairs, leaving Spencer still on the couch. He sucked in a deep breath and let it out in a long, a very long, groan of frustration. He had to figure out something to keep her from going down a bad path. But she was already going through the phase of keeping things from him…she didn't even tell him that she skipped school today. The only way he found out was because her principal called and asked if Carly was sick.

Upstairs, Carly got ready for bed before going back into her room, not even bothering to pick up the mess her and Sam made. She hopped on her bed, still smiling like crazy just thinking about her kisses with Freddie.

"Look at me! I'm smiling like a little school girl! Oh wait…I am a little school girl," she giggled at herself and grabbed her phone out of her purse. She saw that she had one missed call and pressed okay to listen to it.

"Hey, Carly," it was Griffin. Her hand gripped the phone tighter when she heard his voice, "Sorry I freaked you out. You're not answering the phone, so I'm assuming you're still mad. Either way, I'll pick you up tomorrow morning. Later."

The call seemed really impersonal, but all Carly could think was that he actually apologized. She stared at her phone, debating if she should call him back. Her fingers seemed to have a mind of their own, for they were dialing his number before her brain could make up its mind.

The phone rang twice before Griffin picked up, "Carly! I was beginning to think you were gonna have me waiting all night."

She tried to laugh, pulling from the deepest pit of her stomach to rumble out one, "Griffin, you were asleep."

"Yeah, so? Doesn't mean I still wasn't waiting," she was trying to think of a response to that, but couldn't come up with anything. He continued when she didn't speak, "So, tomorrow's Friday. What would you like to do during the night time?"

Carly sighed, "Talk…talking would be nice."

"Well…we're talking right now though," Griffin said, his voice holding a questioning attitude.

"I mean in person," Carly replied, pushing her annoyance, "Griffin, I don't feel like talking to you tonight. And don't bother giving me a ride tomorrow morning. I'm gonna take the bus because…" She paused, just realizing how harsh she was sounding, "Because I know the bus is reliable."

She heard him chuckling away from the phone before putting it up to his face again, "Whatever, Carly. I'll see you whenever then."

And then the call was dropped. Carly threw her phone on her dresser and grabbed her pillow before stuffing it over her face to muffle out her loud, long scream.


	11. iGet Angry

**iGrow Up**

**XI**

"Carly! Freddie's here!" Carly heard Spencer yell from downstairs.

"Be right down!" Carly yelled back, running the brush through her hair a few more times before grabbing her purse and backpack and exiting her bedroom. She put on a bright smile as she hopped down the stairs, seeing Freddie waiting for her at the bottom.

"Morning, Beautiful," he greeted her, causing her to blush. She wasn't used to that sort of attention, even though she was sure Freddie said something similar to that a million times over; she just never took the time out to notice or appreciate it.

"Morning," she responded, keeping eye contact with him as she reached the bottom of the stairs and even when walking around him. The smile of pure joy he was giving her seemed hypnotic and she couldn't bring herself to look away for a long moment.

Spencer raised an eyebrow when he saw this play out. Carly walked into the kitchen and his eyes averted to Freddie, who was still smiling away.

"Want an apple?" Carly asked, holding up a green apple.

"Sure, sounds good," Freddie said, holding out his hands when Carly tossed the apple to him, then grabbing one for herself.

They both took their first bite together, Carly walking back over to Freddie as they chewed. They both turned to Spencer, grinning and chewing at the same time.

Spencer now gave them an odd look, wondering why he thought he might be seeing double…and also why the scene seemed really weird. Spencer forced out a short laugh, hoping that they would also laugh along at their strangeness. When they didn't, he put on a serious face, tried the laugh again, then went back to serious.

"You guys are freaking me out," he finally said.

"Well, we have to go now to make sure we don't miss the bus," was Carly's only response as she walked toward the door, Freddie following.

"See you later, Spencer," Freddie called out, waving over his shoulder before closing the door behind him.

Spencer pulled his lips in, thinking hard about what he just saw. He wasn't quite sure…but his little sister and Freddie seemed really happy this morning…a bit…_too…_happy. He rubbed his chin suspiciously.

Outside, Carly and Freddie finally laughed, giving each other a high five. Though most of their "act" may have been real, they somehow secretly decided between themselves that they would throw Spencer through a little loop.

"That'll give his brain something to think about today," Carly said as they made their way to the elevator, pressing a finger on the down button.

Freddie nodded as the elevator doors opened and they stepped inside, then hitting the first floor button. They stayed silent for a moment as the doors closed and they were left alone as they traveled down. He glanced over at her, wondering where they stood from last night to this morning.

Carly herself was feeling slightly unsure of what to do at the moment. Now that the drama slowed down and they weren't just shouting or doing whatever was on their minds, going through the motions was hard to do. She still never gave him an answer to the question he asked her the night before.

They both stayed lost in each others thoughts too long apparently, for before they knew it, the elevator made a short dinging sound and the doors opened to reveal the lobby.

They both stood still for a second before Freddie waved his arm out to the side, indicating that she may exit the elevator first. The grin on his lips made her laugh, and she curtseyed before walking out of the elevator, "Why, thank you kind sir," she said with mock royalty in her tone.

"Anything for the pretty lady," Freddie responded as he followed behind her, cursing lowly under his breath when he didn't reach the front door in time to open it for her. Carly didn't seem to mind, however, as she pushed the door open with one hand. She stopped abruptly right outside the door, causing Freddie to run into her.

"What's the matter?" he asked, "Forget something?"

He watched her as she shook her head, seeing the surprised look on her face. He followed her eyes, his own going dull when he spotted Griffin. The good-looking guy in the tight jeans and leather jacket was leaning against a silver two-door mustang, smirking at the sight of Carly.

Carly finally found her bearing when she angrily walked toward him, "Griffin, what are you doing here? I said I was going to take the bus."

Griffin shrugged, "You accused me of being unreliable last night…couldn't let you keep that opinion, now could I?"

Freddie felt anger…no…he _saw _anger! Never before had he believed in the phrase "seeing red" but he was positive he saw it now. He wasn't sure if he was mad at the guy for what he did to Carly the night before, or for showing up even though it was clear that Carly told him not to, or for just being him. Freddie decided that it was all of the above.

Carly shook her head, "I told you I was going to take the bus," she repeated.

Pushing himself away from the car he somehow obtained, he walked toward Carly, "Aw, c'mon. Don't tell me I drove all the way over here for nothing." When she didn't say anything, he continued, "Look, I'm already here and willing to give you a ride. So how 'bout you just get in the car and appreciate my offer?"

"Don't talk to Carly like that!" Freddie jumped in, just then realizing it was the first time he actually ever talked to the guy. He had tried to avoid him at all costs, knowing that he would hate him just because he was dating Carly. And though Griffin was bigger than him, and looked like he had more muscles than him, Freddie sounded confident as he defended Carly.

Griffin didn't even make a response for Freddie, his eyes staying on Carly. Finally, Carly sighed, "Okay. But only if you agree to give Freddie a ride, too."

"What?!" Freddie yelled, not wanting to ride with that jerk in the least. He couldn't even believe that Carly was considering it. The bus would only be a few more minutes! Why couldn't she just wait?!

Griffin finally glanced over at the shorter boy, not looking a bit concerned over the angry look Freddie was throwing him, nor at how close he stood to Carly. He shrugged, seeming to be satisfied that Carly at least said yes, and turned around to walk back to the car, "Whatever."

Carly let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding in and looked over to Freddie.

"Are you crazy?" Freddie asked in a loud whisper, "Spencer said that he would ground you for _three months _if you saw Griffin again."

Closing her eyes, Carly counted to three before opening them again, "Yeah, but he never said anything about not seeing him when someone else was around."

He watched her as she began walking toward the mustang, his shoulders slumping in defeat, "I'm sure that that also went with the deal…" he said to himself before reluctantly following. Normally he wouldn't have agreed to this, but he didn't want to leave Carly alone with Griffin and spend any time worrying about her.

Freddie stopped when he saw Carly pushing the front seat forward so she could make her way to the back seat before putting the passenger seat in its rightful position again.

"Yo, what are you doing sitting back there?" Griffin asked, looking at her in his rearview mirror like she was insane.

Carly shrugged, "I just felt like sitting back here."

Freddie sighed. Why was Carly doing this to him? Did he do something to tick her off that she was punishing him like this? He looked at her sitting in the backseat, accidentally meeting her eyes. Right away, he found the answer to his questions. She wasn't doing any of this to punish him; she was doing it to avoid confrontation. With her gaze, she told him that if she didn't take up his offer, he might have caused a scene and she didn't want to deal with it. Finally realizing that she actually _didn't_ want to be near him, Freddie stopped stalling and slid himself into the passenger seat, slamming the door hard once he was in.

"Easy!" Griffin yelled, looking in a pissed off mood now. He turned on the car and pulled into the street without even looking, going from zero to forty in a matter of seconds.

"Griffin!" Carly yelled, grabbing her seatbelt as fast as she could, "Slow down, would you?"

"I don't get it, Carly! What's going on with you?" Griffin asked, his speed still accelerating, his eyes continuously averting from the road to his rearview mirror to look at her.

"With me?!" she exclaimed. "What's going on with _you_?! You're the one that's driving all crazy-like!"

"That has nothing to do with it!" He yelled back, banging his hands on the wheel, "I'm talking about you and how you always leave me in a mad rush every time something doesn't go your way!"

Her eyes widened in disbelief that he would even say such a thing, "Doesn't go my way!? Griffin…!" she stopped and looked in the passenger side mirror, seeing how uncomfortable Freddie was. She kept her back erect, but rested it against the seat, "I don't want to talk about this right now."

"You told me last night on the phone that you didn't want to talk to me then…and now you don't want to talk now? I thought that was your thing! Talking and all that nonsense…" Griffin took a sharp turn, taking the road that would inevitably lead to Carly and Freddie's school.

Carly rolled her eyes and looked out the window, "Yeah, nonsense is my thing…" she said sarcastically.

"So you're being a smartass now?" he asked harshly, his eyes narrowed.

Carly winced, not used to having cuss words thrown her way for any reason. It's not like she was a little kid and couldn't take hearing that kind of language, but she never saw the need to use it.

Freddie was now staring at Griffin like he belonged in an insane asylum. Was this guy really talking to her like that? There was no way…no way Freddie could just let that slide.

"I think you should apologize to Carly…now," Freddie said in a surprisingly calm, yet firm, voice. He locked his jaw, finding it hard to maintain any control and not just throw a blow at Griffin.

Griffin still hardly acknowledged him, "Kid, what I say to my girlfriend is none of your business."

"Kid…?"

"I'm not your girlfriend anymore," Carly piped in, narrowing her eyes to match his when he looked at her though the mirror, "I'm tired of trying to get through to you about how I feel and you not listening."

The car stopped with a sudden halt. Carly hit her nose on the front seat from the whiplash, holding her hands over her face, "Griffin!"

Without saying a word, he opened his door and stepped out of the car, not even bothering to close it behind him.

"Freddie, get out," she said in a rush, fear very apparent in her voice. She unbuckled herself and gripped the front seat hard, anxious to leave the vehicle as soon as possible.

Freddie opened the door quickly and stepped out, pushing the seat forward and grabbing Carly's hand to try to help her out as fast as he could. Before he had time to even realize that Griffin was beside them, he felt his back hit the pavement hard, thanking whatever sort of reaction he had that he kept his head up so it didn't hit also.

"Griffin!" Carly yelled, grunting when he grabbed her arm and pulled her the rest of the way out of the car, not even letting go once she was out.

"Carly, all I want to know is what's going on! You were so into my "bad boy" side when we first started dating…what happened? Huh? Too much for you?" He got close to her face as he asked this, watching as she closed her eyes and backed her face away from his.

He looked at her strangely now, "You don't think I would hit you, do you?" He sounded honestly in shock at the thought.

"Get off of her!" Freddie yelled once he made it to his feet again, shoving Griffin away from Carly. It didn't throw him far, but it did build a slight distance between him and Carly, allowing her to rub her arm where he held her.

Griffin was facing away from them when he started laughing, still doing so as he slowly turned around to face them again. He held his arms out to his sides, leaving himself wide open, "Carly…! Carly, Carly, Carly…you want to leave me for this guy?"

Carly crossed her arms, "I'm leaving you because you act like a child."

He pointed to himself, "_Me? _Acting like…" he started laughing again, "C'mon Carly…you're the one acting like a child. You don't even know the first thing to do in bed."

An angry and embarrassed blush spread across her face, her voice failing her momentarily from the surprise she felt upon him saying that.

Freddie wasn't seeing red anymore…it was black. He couldn't think straight; everything he did was nothing but a blur. But Carly saw it perfectly. She witnessed Freddie run toward Griffin then swing his fist back before throwing it forward to land right in the middle of Griffin's face.


	12. iAm Free

_**iGrow Up**_

_**XII**_

"Freddie!" Carly screamed in horror, not sure whether to run up next to him or stay where she was. Freddie caught Griffin off guard and he actually did go to the ground, even if it was just on one knee.

"What the--," Griffin touched his nose with the back of his hand to see that he had a bloody nose. He stood up and spit to the side when he tasted blood. He stared down at the younger boy, wondering where he got up the courage to pull a stunt like that.

Griffin walked over to him, almost too calmly, and grabbed Freddie by the collar of his shirt. Freddie grabbed his fists in reaction, determined not to show fear in his eyes. He realized that he was the one that initiated their fight, and there was no way he could back down now. Especially with Carly watching them.

"I don't know what you're trying to prove, kid, but you're—."

"I'm trying to prove that you're no good for Carly!" Freddie yelled, his eyes narrowed furiously, "You may be the one that she was dating, but every time you mistreated her, who do you think she came to, to talk about it?! Obviously you're not someone that listens to her when she has a problem!"

Griffin raised an eyebrow with confusion, "Mistreated her? I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You're pressuring her!" Freddie yelled, getting angrier when he thought that Griffin was just being stupid and acting like he didn't know what he was talking about, "Why couldn't you just accept what she wanted to do instead of thinking about yourself?"

It was at this comment that Griffin looked away from Freddie and put his gaze on Carly. She looked scared and worried, no doubt thinking that there was going to be a bad fight right in the middle of the street.

"Carly…really?" Griffin asked indifferently. He shoved Freddie away from him. By now, he had almost completely forgotten that he was punched in the face, having been in fights with bigger guys in his time. He walked around Freddie to step toward Carly, "Every time we got into a disagreement, you went running to this guy?"

Carly's eyes widened when she realized what Griffin had assumed, "Griffin, it wasn't like that! I never even told my friends anything…they just saw that I was upset and--."

"And then what, Carly? You went and did the things you wouldn't do with me?" Griffin accused.

"No! See, you're not listening again! I just said it wasn't like that!" Carly was getting mad now. She felt like she was running in circles and instead of getting dizzy and sick, she was becoming annoyed. "Ever since you wanted to take the next step, I've been feeling trapped and confused by you! Why can't you see that?! Are you completely incapable of thinking up something original to do with me!? I'm really not that hard to please, Griffin…take me out to ice cream, take me for a walk in the park, take me to see a movie…why couldn't you do that stuff? Why did it have to be all about…being in your room?"

Griffin laughed, "Can you not even say 'sex'?" He watched as Carly blushed. He crossed his arms when Freddie came up to stand next to her, becoming defensive again in case Griffin tried to grab her again.

"That was some speech," Griffin commented, "You always have those speeches of yours, don't you? Well, here's mine: Carly, you're still a little kid. There's plenty of girls your age that are way more mature and know how to handle a relationship. All that stuff you're talking about? That's middle school stuff. Why does it have to be all about that? Why _didn_'t it have to be about 'being in my room'?" he mocked. When she didn't answer, he finished, "It has to happen sometime, Carly, might as well be with someone experienced." The glance he threw at Freddie didn't go unnoticed to any of them.

Freddie blushed this time, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to find a good comeback. Carly watched him suffer for a brief second before shaking her head, "You don't have any morals, do you, Griffin?" She paused, deciding whether to go into detail or not. Finally, she said wearily, "And if you really feel like I don't meet up to your standards…then I think it's time that you find another girlfriend."

All three of them got silent. Carly and Freddie waited for Griffin to respond, whereas Griffin waited for Carly to take back what she said. When he realized that she wasn't, he sighed and looked away from them.

"I have to give it to you, Carly…no girl ever broke up with me," he smiled despite this statement and slowly walked around his car to the driver side. Carly and Freddie looked at each other, not sure if they should still be worried.

"Oh, and Carly?" Griffin called, waiting until Carly looked at him again, "I still think you would have been awesome." He smirked before he got in his car and drove away.

Carly looked confused for a moment, "What did he--," she stopped abruptly when she finally got what he meant. Her face went red once again, making sure not to make eye contact with Freddie.

Freddie sighed, "Don't worry about him, Carly. You did the right thing," he held his fist in his hand, his knuckles feeling like they got smashed by rocks.

Carly saw this and thought it best to change the subject, "Are you okay?"

Freddie chuckled lightly, "Yeah…I always heard that punching someone hurt the puncher too, so I'm not surprise."

She smiled and grabbed his bruised fist to study it for herself. Freddie watched her in amazement, seeing that she was really hurt from what just happened but trying to hide it, "Carly…I know that you really liked him…and I'm sorry that it turned out this way."

Carly felt tears sting her eyes for a quick second before she swallowed roughly to regain control of herself. She shook her head and looked up from Freddie's hand, "Don't be sorry. I should have done it way before now anyway."

Freddie tried to smile; after all, Carly was finally free of that jerk. But he knew that it would take her a couple days before she finally let go of everything that happened. She had a big heart and couldn't just let something like this go in a seconds' time.

"Hey, let's just finish walking to school," Freddie offered, glad when he saw her nod. They began walking in the direction in which they were heading in the car earlier.

They walked in silence for a couple minutes before Carly finally spoke, "Thanks for being such a good friend, Freddie."

He flashed her a small smile, "I hope it wasn't this that finally made you realize that."

She laughed and tucked some of her hair behind her ear, "No…but you never punched anyone for me, so I figured you deserved to be told this time."

Freddie looked down at his bruised hand. He was suddenly too proud of it to worry about the pain, "I never knew it would be such a rush."

Carly shook her head but laughed again, "Just don't go around punching everyone you see."

"Aw…" Freddie acted disappointed for a moment before breaking into a smile, "Okay, I'll only punch people that bother you."

Carly got quiet after this and Freddie wished he didn't say that last part. He thought she would find it funny, but apparently it just reminded her of Griffin all over again. He looked down in shame, but quickly replaced it with a big smile as he stopped and faced her, waiting for her to do the same.

"Say…Carly?"

"Yeah?" She pulled her lips in, trying her best to hide what would have been a ridiculously large smile.

"Um…" he rubbed the back of his neck anxiously, "Well, I was wondering if you would like to get ice cream and catch a movie tonight? I-I mean since…since it's Friday and all, we won't have to worry about school tomorrow." Freddie realized that it sounded like he was asking too much and quickly corrected himself, "Not that I'll keep you out late! 'Cause you know I'll bring you back if you—."

Before he could continue his babble, Carly held up her hand and laughed, "Freddie, relax…it's just me."

Hearing this, Freddie allowed his shoulders to slump, signaling that he released a huge pressure. As he stared at her, he thought about telling her how he felt about her being "just her". Carly was his precious diamond that deserved nothing but the best. His list of analogies and hopeless romantic aphorisms could go on for days…

But now was not the time. He knew she knew how he felt, but wanted to tell her everything anyway. In a time and setting a lot more suiting then in the street on their way to school.

Finally, he grinned, "Carly, will you let me take you out tonight?"

She mimicked his smile, "You know I will."

"Awesome!" The word left his mouth before he could even think about stopping it. Freddie blushed, but did his best to keep his composure when his heart melted at the sound of her laughter. When her laugh died down, they silently gazed at each other, both somehow thinking that this was a moment for them to remember.

Carly rung her hands together, "You can make a move, Freddie…"

He paused for a long instant, but then took the two steps to close the distance between them. She closed her eyes, waiting for his lips to touch hers, but was surprised when she felt the back of his hand on her cheek. Her eyes snapped open to come face to face with the most beautiful expression she had ever seen.

"This is my move, Carly," two of his fingers ran down her cheek and brushed some of her hair back slightly before pulling his hand back to himself, "We have tons of time. Why rush it?"

Her eyes widened, that being the last thing she ever expected to hear. This boy…this _man _in front of her just basically told her that he would wait forever for her if that was what she wanted. That was what he had been doing ever since he met her.

"You're amazing," she breathed out. This time, she was the one blushing at the words that came out of her mouth before she could stop them.

Smirking, Freddie rubbed his knuckles on his chest before blowing on them, easing the mood, "Well, don't mean to brag…"

At this, Carly laughed again, glad he was able to pull off romantic and humorous in the same conversation. He dropped his hand and grinned, cocking his head in the direction of the school, "C'mon, let's get going so we're not late."

She nodded in agreement and they both began walking again. She kept glancing over at him, glad she no longer felt dread when thinking about dating, but instead, excited and positive. As it should be.

********************************

You guys probably want to kill me, don't you? First I have you wait all this time for another chapter…and now I'm just ending it. I know…I'm sorry. I've had this chapter half way completed ever since July, but then got busy with a lot of other things and never got to finish it. I had planned on making this story a lot longer, but decided to finish it and cut it short for a few reasons.

One, I got news that iGrow Up won for best Creddie story. So, thank you all for your votes! I didn't know this story meant so much to you guys. Second, like I said, I got really busy and kind of fell out of touch with iCarly. I haven't watched it since July. Thirdly, on that note, I have been keeping a little track on the show and came to the realization that the writers definitely seem to be leaning towards Seddie. I don't really like it, but it kind of gave me lack of motivation. But because of all my wonderful reviewers, I just didn't feel right leaving the story unfinished. At least like this…I know that at least it's not just hanging in limbo.

Thank you for all that have read and reviewed.


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